Sunday, July 27, 2014

Dear Departed Drawings ~ Neil

Gearing up for a special little boy.  Forever seven years old.  I will be starting on his birthday August first.  1982.  He would have been 32.


Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Homemade Carpet Cleaner Solution

Ewww.  My carpets were a disaster and needed to be shampooed.  Just so happens my in-laws gave us their carpet cleaner, Bissell Proheat X2 Carpet Deep Cleaner!!  Buuuut I didn't want to spend the $$$ on their pricey cleaning solution that is chock full of chemicals!!  My kids and pets lay on the carpet!  So we made our own (against the advice of Bissell - will void warranty) solution.

Saturday, July 12, 2014

365 days of drawing ~ day one hundred ninety-three ~ Trees and Tents with Violet


Violet.  Violet.  Violet.  Violet.  Violet.  Violet.  Violet.  Violet.  Violet.  Violet.  Violet.  Violet. 

Daughter.  Sister.  Loved.  Missed.  Not forgotten.  Remembered.

I remember the first time I saw Violet's name.  I remember reading her story.  I remember thinking, "Wow.  I can't imagine losing a child."  Then I realized I knew nothing about that, can't imagine.  As I read about Violet through her mothers blog Still Playing School I kept seeing the abundant love her family had for her and how they would not let her be forgotten.  I remember when I read Grief stops you in your tracks and the air was sucked out of the room.  I thought about my drawings.  I contacted Devany that night.  I knew I had to draw Violet.  And she asked me to give her a gift only an artist could give her.  A drawing of all THREE her children.  Absolutely.  Why didn't I think of that.   She posed the LeDrew crew with the blanket and I used an existing photo of Violet, melded the photos together and set to work with pencils in hand.




I asked Devany to share about Violet, in her words:

The thought of writing something that sums up our daughter Violet reminds me of how I marveled about her arrival before she was born. How do we fit a life time of love into the brief time she'll have with us? How do I condense into text all that I have to say about her, the journey of meeting her, her short but beautiful time with us, and all that has happened since she died?

I remember when I realized after Violet died that I could still mother her. I had been very frantic to "do it all" while she was still breathing but after she was gone I realized that I had been mothering her while I was still pregnant and I was mothering her still. I raise her siblings to remember her, I share her with the world, I create for her, and I write. It's not the way I imagined spending time with my second daughter but I welcome the opportunity to continue to be her mother for the rest of my life just like I was for the entirety of hers.

This is where amazing people like you come in. Friends who I had known for decades disappeared while people I hardly knew flocked to my side to witness this journey and all that evolves from it. They lift us up on the most heartbreaking days, the make us smile and cry with their memories and thoughts of her, and they remember her too. That is the greatest gift they can give.

I could write for the rest of my life about Violet (and I WILL) but I will never be able to convey in words what this drawing means to me. With tears in my eyes I can tell you this: You've given me something that I could never had otherwise. You've given me a picture of our three children together. You've also given me so much more. You've gifted us with the opportunity to watch the process of them come to life through your art. It is stunning to me that the drawing resonates with their laughter and sparkling eyes like a photograph never could. And you've given me your friendship. You've carried some of this burden of life long grief along beside me and you've placed Violet in your heart forever. Thank you for sharing her with me and the world.



"Mother of Three"


Thank you Devany for allowing me to draw your beautiful babies, one in heaven, two on earth.  Thank you for giving me more understanding of a grieving mother.  Thank you for sharing Violet with me.

365 days of drawing Addyson Aegirine Aldies Review Alice all purpose cleaner Alta View Wellness Center Angel Numbers Angie Yingst Animal Symbolism Apartment life Arborday.org Are You Experienced art Art reading Aura Photo Aura Photography Backcombing Bacon recipe Bacon wrapped chicken Balloonport Beach Life Beach Life Series Because I hate Abbreviations Best Bone-in Chicken recipes Beverly Stephan Bissell Proheat Carpet Cleaner Blessingway Bone-in Chicken Borax recipes Brussel Sprouts Camp Innabah Candy Drawer Carnies Carnival Series Carpet shampooer Catering Chakra Photo Chakra Photography chicken recipe christmas cookie recipe Christmas craze Christmas Shoe box clairvoyant Cleaning Recipes Collective Consciousness colored pencil Conner Cookie recipe Coupons crafts with toilet paper roll Cremation Ashes cremation glass memorial bead Crew Crystal grids Crystal Healing Crystal Therapy Crystal uses Crystals and Minerals Darn it. Dear Departed Drawings Departed Dinner Recipe DIY Down to Earth Wear drawing drawing of a bulb syringe drawing of a snot sucker Drawing of a zombie drawing of an astronaut Drawing of feet drawing of genesee beer drawing of ghastly beer Drawing of Jimi Hendrix Dread bead Dreadie decorations Dreadies Dreadlock Methods Dreadlocks Dreads Dream Catcher Dustin Middaugh Eggleston Hall Engroff Epicurean Delight Evolution of a Drawing Video Family Family Vacation Feeding your family on a budget Feel the wind on your face Fels naptha recipes floor cleaner Food Coma Friend Frugal Shopping Gardening Glass Blowing glass dread bead grandma's cookie recipe Grandpa graphite drawings Hair Handmade Hape twist and turnables Hardiness zones map Harpers Ferry Healer Healing Herman Heroin Robbed Me HK Pinwheel Packs Holiday shopping holiday shuffle home home for the holidays home school Homemade Carpet Cleaner Solution Homemade frenzy Homemade powdered laundry detergent Homeschool Preschool hot air balloon chase crew Hot Air Ballooning Houd House Faery Thefts Humanitarianism Hyperrealism Insecurities Jack Daniels Distillery Tour Joel kids crafts Kings Fresh Meats Review Kole Kombucha Lancaster balloonport last minute Christmas shopping LeDrew crew Leigh Leigh D Baxter Life Life Purpose lithium quartz Little light Living with Strangers Lost shiny trinkets Love Lucia Married life Maryland Meditation Mineral Uses Monster Paintball MOPS Mothers of Preschoolers Moving Moving to a new house Mr. Kromer MUM Expo My Crystals and Minerals Mystic Native American Rituals Natural Healer Neil New house New Moon Circle new year resolution new years resolution Nines Numerology Obsessive Compulsive Disorder OCD Ocean Beach Spirit Cleansing Ceremony Ocean City Ocean City Maryland On the Road Again One Love Operation Christmas Child Pacific Northwest Glassblowing Packing Packing up your house for a move paint Parenthood Pencil Drawings Pennsylvania Dutch Pot Pie Pennsylvania Dutch Sand tarts photo realism Planting zones map Poppa. portrait drawing Portrait of Cosmo Portrait of Dustin Middaugh Portrait of Houd Portrait of Leigh D Baxter Prettying up Dreadies Reithoffer Show Renting Rides Roasted Parmesan Brussel Sprout Recipe Samaritans Purse Sevens Sideshows Smaller Dreads spiritual awakening spiritual experience Stick a screw driver in my eye Still Life with Circles Still Playing School Still. Summer fun Super washing soda recipes Survivor Mama Susquehanna Valley Balloon Company Sweet Pea Project Sweet Pea Sisters and Brothers Picnic Tarot Card Reading Tea tree essential oil Tennessee The Beach The Moon + Stone Healing The Pier The Walking Dead Things to do in Nashville Thinner Dreadlocks tissue paper hearts To Linger on Hot Coals Traveling Twist and Rip Twizzlers U-Haul uses for vinegar Valentines day craft Violet Wax Hands wax museums Wedding West Virginia WV year in review Your Inner Light