Hello!! I am back!

April 21, 2012
Hi,
I hope everyone has been having a great start of the year. I know it's practically halfway through. I can't believe it is already April! Our family has not only been busy as usual but so much has hit us that I honestly wasn't motivated to write about it, but spring is in the air and hope for new beginnings or a brighter future is in the horizon. Hopefully little by little I can get you all updated.

First things first with the family...

Boys have been succeeding in school. Both went to State for wrestling and had a great season. It was emotional for me knowing that Nick's last match at State was going to be the last time I ever see him wrestle and it was the last time he shared the mat with his brother. Nick is graduating this year and we are so proud of him because he was awarded a scholarship from Western Kentucky University. All the hard work of keeping outstanding grades and actually making school important paid off. Jared is also doing great and is looking forward to his senior year. I am proud of both of them for still doing well despite all our military moves and all the events that have impacted our household from Bo's deployment to deaths in the family.

Boys at Ft. Knox Invitational (Nick took 3rd, Jared took 4th)

Regionals-Nick took 3rd and Jared took 4th both qualified for State.

Our 2012 State Qualifiers

Good luck collage made for the boys.

Our Family at Spring Wrestling banquet 2012

Our 2012 Central Hardin HS Varsity Team

Boys and their Coaches.

Nick's Senior Collage

Collages I made for the Coaches.

This March a year and a couple days to the day of celebrating my Mother in Law's anniversary my Father in law passed away. It was very emotionally for us and I know hit Bo hard, that is now both parents gone. We rushed down to the coast to make sure all was done right for the funeral and to be a part of it. I didn't think my kids would be pallbearers this young but I know they were proud to carry the casket of a wonderful man. The only thing that gets us through is the thought that he is now with Mom, but that doesn't mean we do not miss them both dearly.

The last picture the boys took with their grandparents.

We will miss you dearly Dad. Charles Coffell Sr. 8-19-1942 to 3-24-2012

Updates on me..
I am still a busy Mom. Making collages for our seniors and handing Cd's to the kids of pictures I take throughout the season. I am still going to college to attain my certification in the billing section of the health field and will continue on to attached that degree to my Bachelor's working towards my Master's. My night classes are late at night online due to taking the classes from University of Alaska Southeast in Sitka but I make it work and carry a 4.0 right now. I will actually be ending this semester in less than a month and starting a new class in May for the summer.

Besides all that I have been busy taking online workshops! I started the year with Misty Mawn's Open Studio and I am still working through some of her assignments. She was such a breath of fresh air and such an inspiration. The workshop itself was filled with such supportive and creative people that I wish one day we can finally meet.




I then went on to take Flora Bowley's Brave Intuitive You Workshop and was immersed and so taken by not only Flora but her work and her approach to painting. I am still in the middle of working on two of my canvases and will be sharing my progression soon.




Then I just ended a Journal workshop with Judy Wise who not only showed us great techniques but was my lifesaver when we traveled to Mississippi's Gulf Coast for my Father in law's death. Without my journal I probably would have lost my sanity. LOL! Now it is a common daily ritual to write or visual journal everyday.



I have more workshops in the near future and excited because one of them will be working with jewelry. :) I will be sure to keep you posted on those. I am very thankful for the internet when it comes to these online workshops because with my lifestyle right now I can't travel to every retreat so being able to do a workshop in the comfort of my own home has been really nice.

Well I will not drown you with all this writing, I will slowly share with you all my art progressions. :) I am happy to be back and look forward to a better rest of the month for my family. We have so much to be grateful for and so many positive things in the near future to look forward to.

Bo and I April 2, 2012

My handsome guys.

I hope you stop by and say hello. I sure have missed coming on here.

Season's Greetings 2011

Wishing you all a blessed Christmas and a great start to a new year!





We are busy spending time with family and traveling for wrestling tournaments. I will be back in January. :)

Enjoy your holiday season! :)

What has been going on...

We finished Cross Country season with a bang. :) Experienced the pride and happiness of both our boys and girls team running in State. We then ended with a great banquet honoring our top runners and saying goodbye to our seniors. One of them of course being my Nick. I was in charge of the collages and made everyone of the seniors one and also our Volunteer parent of the season Mr. Tim P. I will miss this group of kids and parents and coaches but will see them one more time during track. :)




Thanksgiving was great for the simple fact that Bo was here with us this year. Just the time we spend as a family means so much to all of us.








With cross country over we walked right into wrestling with Nick only have 3 days of practice before hitting the mat for scrimmages. This last weekend we were in Oldham County for duals and both boys did well. I am really looking forward to a great season for them both.

Our Seniors

Our Varsity and Junior Varsity Central Hardin HS Bruin Wrestling Team

In the midst of all the events I re-opened my Etsy shop. A little snippet of what is in the shop.






As for me I am finishing up my college classes for this semester. Our group project for a class is turned in and we present this week. Then I have two finals and I am DONE with this semester. I will have a little break in which my time will be consumed with decorating for Christmas, wrestling meets, and hopefully being able to again work on creating. My next classes will start again in the middle of January.

I hope you all have had a wonderful November and the start to a great December. I will leave you with a picture of my baby girl Kaiah. :) She is my unconditional love and is always by my side to make my days better. :) I cannot believe like the boys she is growing up fast and turns 2 years old this coming February.
Have a great week and thank you for stopping by to visit. :)

Loving my little books....

I am very thankful for the talented artists like Stephanie Lee that pour so much of their passion and love of creating into their classes. She travels to teach at workshops but she also teaches online workshops. Which is great for people like me that cannot always travel. Workshops like these though,not only give you the push to be creative and the confidence to push past your boundaries but you meet others who are also in the experience with you and share, communicate and support. The talent and support and friendship taken out of these courses are always worth so much. It also helps to have such talented artists who are so giving and so passionate that they infect you with that enthusiasm and the drive to explore and create. Thank you Stephanie for giving us so much to take away from your class and for also being there to help us and to confide in us and to support us.

I started in 2007 to finally open my heart and release all the criticisms of others and just create. My love for wearable art became my passion making glass jewelry and sharing them with others who appreciate and love my work and fortunately enough hooking my husband into the passion as he learned to create beautiful glass beads. The doors then opened for me to finally explore my creative side. So little by little I gave myself the permission to learn how to draw, paint, take better pictures. In the midst of a busy "Mommy" and "Wife", I found myself craving for more "Me" time in the sense that if I didn't journal, or paint, or go for a spontaneous drive for photographs or created a new piece of jewelry I was going crazy. Not everyone around me understood that feeling, but its all good...I found my little spot where I could disappear to. :) Now as I take more and more workshops I have realized I need this in my life and will always find a way to make time for my learning and creating.

Here are the snippets of my experience of making my Handbook of Elements books from Stephanie Lee's online workshop.





























I hope you enjoyed the pictures. These are just the start. I am now hooked and ordered more metal sheets and adornments to make more of these little books. :)

Have a great Veteran's Day weekend. We are headed out to Lexington, KY for State Cross Country Races. :)

Once again I find myself trying to catch up...

October flew by along with November at its tail. Here is a little recap of the events that have flown by us.

Halloween was spent carving pumpkins and painting skulls and we had a lot of fun as a family but disappointed that even if we live in a neighborhood not one trick or treater came. :( So now I am left with ALL this candy...um not a good thing. LOL!

My week then was filled with tests, quizzes and homework and events. Nick's Regions for Cross Country was an hour away at Bowling Green, KY. It was an intense event for both teams but a nail biter for our boys. Come to find out Nick was the one that placed right to be able to secure our spot for State! So we are headed to Lexington, KY this next weekend to compete in state. This was momentous for our high school because this is not only the first time our boys team are going to state as a whole team but we are sending both our boys team and girls team at the same time! We are so proud of the whole team and I am glad Nick's last season with the team will end in such a great way.

With such a goal achieved the boys spend bonding time at my house last night. The kids didn't have school Monday and Tuesday so we opened our doors for all the teenage boys that could come to spend time here. They were strewn out all over my den last night. :)

In all the whirling of events I did find some quiet time to finish my Handbook of Elements books. These are just my first but hopefully when I receive my metal order I can concentrate on making more.(I will dedicate a whole entry to the experience.)

So without further ado...I will share the events....

Carving pumpkins..

Kaiah decked out for Halloween. :)

Our painted skulls

Our pumpkins and outdoor decor

Regions

Our team going to State

And due to making history for the HS our guys shaved their heads!

And I will end with what I had waiting for me to finish...:)