One more cousin celebrates

Hmmmmmmmmm ... if she's not a blood cousin,

but married to my cousin,

does that make the two of us cousins?

Doesn't matter.

In my eyes, I love her like she's blood.

Happy birthday, Lois.

Enjoy your day to the fullest.

Not my norm ...

Got some of those new inks a while back.

I'm sure I'm not the only one that buys things.

Things I just "have to have"

and then leave them in the packaging
for days/weeks on end.

Finally got them out and started to play.

This is actually the very first experiment

and I'm quite pleased with the result.

Once I decided I liked it well enough to actually mail it,

I chose this image.

Top to bottom, lighter to darker

and the colors kinda match.

You know Vicki ...

she's my friend that knits nests.

She loves going to farm to table events

and this image reminds me of her.

Happy birthday, special friend.

Happy birthday to me

I'm not sure which birthday I was celebrating here.

Maybe my seventh?

Must have been a party going on.

See all the plates, forks and spoons?

And a store-bought cake?

Unheard of!

I do know that this was my 10th birthday.

It was a surprise party with all of my friends

and my sister.

And yes, I was very surprised.

I remember my mother allowing me

to choose whatever I wanted to wear that day.

But I don't remember how they

got me out of the house.

Or where everybody was

when they yelled, "SURPRISE!!"

A Belated Wedding Gathering

The marriage took place about two months ago.
Last evening we went to

their belated wedding gathering.

Here's the bag that contained the gift.

The card was paper clipped

onto the back of the bag.

Here's a close-up view of the card.

And you'll see, all of the above

was color coordinated to go with the actual gift.
I decided to pull a photo off his Facebook page

and created something for them,

which is their wedding picture on a canvas.

And here's the complete package.

Congratulations and best wishes,

Tammy and Bill.

Keep on honeymooning!

Aunt Sharon

Not my aunt.

I don't have an aunt Sharon.

But Rachel does.

And her aunt celebrated yesterday.

I'm hoping her day was filled with

chippy wood and a field full of daisies.

And much, much more!

Sisters

Taylor's birthday was yesterday.

Rachel's birthday is today.

I thought these images were perfect

for two young women.

Happy birthday to both of you.

Many years later ...

I met Jennifer in 2004.

Waaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyy back in 2006,

she commissioned me to create a canvas

so that she could gift her sister.

Jennifer moved and we lost touch.
Until last month.

The Runner and I went out for lunch

and lo and behold,

Jennifer was waitressing.

A no-brainer.

We jumped right in like we never lapsed.

Over the years, we both often wondered

"whatever happened to Jennifer/Sue?"

We talked, of course, about my art.

She asked if I was still creating.

Same sister, celebrates a birthday today.

And here's the card I created for her.

I'd like to think I've come a long way

in my compositions over the years.

Happy birthday, Sarah!!!!!

... and we named her Alescia Lynn

50 years ago today, at 4:19 in the afternoon.

I just cannot wrap my head around the fact

that I have a child that's 50.

That's a half a century!!!!

Cards galore.

This one is from her mamma and Popi.

... from her friend

... from another friend 

... and a canvas from that same friend. 

All Belly.

Check this out!

This was taken 50 years ago today.

The eve of the birth of my first child.

Can you say "oh my!?!"

I'm standing in my parents' front yard

with my late Aunt Julie and Uncle Ray.

And I was very, very ready!

Did you happen to notice

I was wearing the same maternity top

I wore almost three years later

when I posed for my son's birth day eve picture?

That was deliberate!

Happy birthday eve, Alescia.