Gratuitous Grandchildren

No Creepy Santa today, instead a Creepy Rudolph! This nose has been 'in the family' for probably 15 years and the damn thing still flashes! Talk about good investments.

YEaaaa, back in Florida where the temperatures are downright balmy in the 60's! I set the clock to see the lunar eclipse of the Solstice Moon at 2 AM but when 2 AM came I sort of forgot that it won't happen again for some 400 years. Oh well. The bed was too warm and cozy and I was too tired to get up. But the moonlight sure was bright streaming into the room, and I did enjoy that part.

The family party halfway between Thanksgiving and Christmas worked out great. We saw everybody we have missed lately, as well as extra time with the little 'royal' grandbabies and my son and his GF who had a slide show prepared of their trip. We had a wonderful time overall, but it was about three days too long of feeling trapped (hmm, probably because of the extreme cold and only having one car and being unable to get away!) Togetherness of that sort is highly overrated- we do best when separated for large expanses of the day.

So, here are the gratuitous grandbabie shots. First here is Elias who you can tell was not at all thrilled about his crown. He was cruising the room, quiet as a mouse, investigating everything and letting everybody manhandle him without complaint. Seems to have a placid personality and not much bothers him, but maybe that comes from being pushed around by his big sister from the beginning.

And here is Hazel, who rules the world before she is even three. She was so looking forward to her crown and took to the party like she owned the room. A woman of strength and fortitude is going to happen with this one! She likes her own way.
OK, that's done. While I was away I got some new equipment for the encaustic projects going on in the studio. I cannot wait to get my walk over with this morning and get back over there to plug stuff in and try out the new heat gun and sealing iron. I also got a huge set of small metal tools like a dentist would throw away. I also cleaned out all the paper stuff I had in the old studio- specialty printing papers, old Lazertran I could never use because it was for a laser printer (hope it still works!), metallic papers for cards, and a whole bunch of misc. photo papers that are unlabled and mysterious. My Sketchbook Project book is due soon so that will be my first thing to tackle, I need to make some stamps for the photos I have already installed and get that finished up and mailed.

And I am trying to decide if I should have another open studio after the first of the year. It's so much work getting the place ready and 'hiding' all the equipement, but it was a good thing to show people what I do. I just wish I had a larger community so folks I don't know would show up. Anyway, I will have to decide on that soon if I want to do it. I would love your input on this- should I or shouldn't I bother? Comments section, or email me directly... I'd appreciate it.

Gotta go put on pants so I can go outside!