The BIG MOUTH FROG

In honor of what would be My Mother's 85th birthday, I want to share her favorite joke she told many times.

Boy, do we need to laugh!

It won't be the same as her telling it, because her facial expressions and voice fluctuations made it funnier.

Daddy couldn't tell a joke to save his life, but Momma could...

The BIG MOUTH FROG

One day Miss Frog had a baby. Being a new mother, she had no idea what to feed her baby. She decided that she would hop around the zoo and ask the mothers what they fed their babies.

Miss Frog hopped up to the monkey, and in a loud voice, with her mouth opened wide, she said:

Mother Monkey, what do ya feed your babies.

Miss Monkey said: bananas.

Miss Frog, said: oh, thank ya very much...

She hopped on to see Miss Robin Red Breast and asked in the same loud, Southern voice:

Mother Robin, what do ya feed your babies?

Miss Robin replied: big fat juicy worms!

Miss Frog said: oh, thank you very much.

Next Miss Frog hopped to Miss Sheep and asked:

Mother Sheep, what do ya feed your babies?

Mother Sheep replied: grass

Miss Frog said with her loud voice : oh, thank ya very much

This went on for most of the day--mothers sharing, as only mothers do, when Miss Frog hopped to the other end of the lake and saw Mother Alligator sunning herself.

HAPPILY, and loudly, Miss Frog asked:

Mother Alligator, what do you feed your babies?

Mother Alligator, with eyes fixed, and in a cold, Harsh voice replied emphatically: BIG MOUTH FROGS...

Miss Frog in shock and through tightly pursed lips, very quietly replied: Oh, thank you very much!

This is why I paint so many frogs. It is a way to share a memory.

Mother and Daddy were my biggest fans. With every stroke of my brush, the love of my parents flows onto the surface.

I have no clue why I won the lottery when it came to parents, but I cherish the memories and am thankful beyond words for the Godly example they were to us and to our community.

I joked at the funeral home, as I proudly stood by Mother's casket, that she LOVED everybody. Yes, she really did. She loved people who treated her harshly, but she prayed for them and always offered a smile, even though I know how tough it was. You see, I was one of those awful people. While I knew how loved I was, I was often unkind and ugly, yet, she loved me unconditionally and replied to my ugliness with a heartbroken smile and "I LOVE YOU."

I share this today with you in hopes YOU will see your own ugliness and repent, because once you say words of hate, they never can be taken back. One day, you will regret them.

The Great news is that YOU ARE LOVED by a Father who loves you unconditionally and who sent His only Son to save You--not to condemn you. He can change YOU. He will forgive you and make your life whole, beautiful and new.

This is what I know Mother would say to all of us. She would also say, in her lovely southern accent: I love you.

She shared John 3:16 and always shared verse 17, because she said it was important to KNOW that there is no condemnation given by God, through Christ Jesus. She shared this message with thousands of people and always ended with: if you haven't been told today, then know that I love you and God loves you.

Accept the love shown you, and return no man, evil for evil.

I am simply blessed to create ~charlotte ♡


Most of these patterns can be found at  THE DECORATIVE PAINTING STORE (CLICK HERE)

OR in my etsy shop By clicking here

Rain--Tutorial Thursday

I have been trying to clean out the 

albums on my phone and 

I found these pictures.

I had participated in a 3 color challenge 

a few months ago.

I had seen a video where an Artist took Crayons and melted them for the rain, so I thought I would see what I could do with the same concept using DecoArt Media Fluid Acrylics.

For the challenge, 

we were to use Black and White 

and then choose another color.

I chose Cobalt Turquoise Hue.

I used 2 Andy Skinner Stencil: 

Children and Acessories

Whew--I am not a stenciler, but I keep trying.

I used a small spritzer for my water.

I picked up the spritzer at JoAnns.

I LOVE this little tool.

I began by creating the background with a 

mix of Black and White. 

I didn't want to over-mix my colors, 

or I would have simply ended up 

with a muddy mix of Grey.

There was no rhyme or reason 

to adding the colors.

I simply picked up some Black, 

then some white, 

then some more white, 

or some more Black...

I stopped when I liked it.

IF you do get a muddy mix, 

stop and allow the paint to dry, 

then begin again.

It is JUST PAINT!

I kept the strokes in a North/South Direction.
Of course, you can try something else.

I stenciled the children and the umbrella and 

boy, howdy, again, 

I want to emphasize that 

I cannot stencil!  LOL

BUT as I keep saying, 

it is only paint, 

so I pulled out my 10/0 liner 

and repaired the blobs as best I could.

I was a bit stressed, 

so I forgot to take pictures.

I applied painters tape to cover the children.

I wanted the rain to fall around them.

I blobbed the Cobalt Turquoise Hue across the top, 

and spritzed it with water so it would run.

This was a process..

More Paint...

More water...

Finally, I just thinned my paint really thin 

and dabbed it across the top.

I kept doing this until I liked it.

I then added some white to the Turquoise 

to give it some depth.

Remember--Shading (dark) pushes your object 

BACK into the background.

Highlighting (light) brings the object 

to the FRONT.

Your goal is to have a 

shadow, the primary color, and a highlight

Of course, you can use many colors 

and layers to achieve this.

That is the fun of playing with paint.

I added a white Highlight between the children.

I thought of it as a lamplight.

Black was added under the children to ground 

them into the picture.

The lettering was added with Black.

I dry brushed Black all around the edge 

to give it a FRAME

This was a very quick project.

This is an example of being able to create ART 

without having great artistic skills.

I always want people to know that 

THEY CAN CREATE.

Things like this are great ways to learn 

shadows and highlights.

As with anything~~

PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE

I hope that YOU make time to 

do things that you love.

Grab a canvas,

3 bottles of paint

Some brushes

and 

CREATE!!

I am simply 

blessed to create~charlotte♡

Orange Cookies

As you know, I have my days and nights mixed up, 

and try as I may, I cannot get on a

 normal person's schedule.  

And when I try, I just make it worse.

This week, I am on the get up at 2 am schedule.

SO, at 4 am, I was making cookies.

Yesterday, I had crushed the Vanilla Wafers 

in a zip lock bag.

I sat the Orange Juice out to thaw.

I was committed at this point to finish!

As always, I seem to have a helper 

that had his own ideas.

After melting the butter, 

I thought Charcoal would like to 

lick the butter wrapper and plate.

He did...

He also ate the wrapper.

Paper is one of the main Food Groups for Labs.

Did you want the wrapper back?  Did you have plans for it?

I got the cookies made, and Look--he got the roll of Butter Rum Lifesavers off of the table and brought them to his "safe place".

Mean ole Mommie took the lifesavers away...

This is one of my most favorite cookies.  

I love that they have been in our family 

almost as long as I have~~lol

Ok, so I was 10!

My cousin, Cheryl, gave Mother the recipe in 1972.

Mother loved them, too.

She loved them rolled in Coconut.

Not me, so she rolled me some in Powdered Sugar.

That was the kind of Mother I had.  

Actually, that is how most Mothers are--

always thinking of others.

\

Now, the problem with this recipe, 

and hundreds of other recipes that are in our families, 

the boxes have 

gotten smaller and smaller 

through the years!

This called for a 1 pound box of Vanilla Waffers, 

but the boxes are now 11 ounces!!

You can buy 2 boxes and weigh them 

with a kitchen scale 

OR Do what I did

I tried to just make things (kinda) match.

I used the 11 ounce box of Vanilla Wafers

I had a 32 ounce bag of powdered sugar, 

so I squeezed 1/3 of the bag to made it 

ABOUT 11 ounces

I used 2/3 cups of Pecans

1 Stick of Melted butter 

(can you have too much butter?)

And my can of Orange Juice was 12 ounces, 

so I eyeballed what I thought 

was a little less than half.

I added all the ingredients to a freezer zip lock bag

to mix them--watch your zip lock, 

because sometimes they break open.

You can mix these in a bowl, 

but I already had the bag.

I also put my powdered sugar to roll them in 

into a zip lock bag.

To roll out the balls, I used a spoon to 

get the dough out of the bag.

I added powdered sugar to my hand.

Placed the dough in my hand

And rolled them.

Yes, powdered sugar was everywhere, BUT

my hands didn't get sticky one bit!

I think my favorite thing about these cookies is

Putting them on my 

bunny platter!!

I love these cookies

They are so fresh tasting!

It turns out that Charcoal still had a few tricks left in his bag...

He found this on my stack I was cleaning/putting in boxes

And he had plans for some chewing

as he tossed it on the couch

(that is the blur from throwing it)

Charcoal is ALL BOY!!

I am so thankful for all the recipes 

that have been passed down 

through my family.

Sharing with friends is such a gift.

As I held the recipe card, 

I got the warmest feelings and 

such great memories of making and taking 

handmade items to friends, and yes, to strangers.

I hope you each are taking the time 

to do things with your children/grandchild/pups =) 

to pass on heart memories.

I am thankful for the talents that 

my parents help develop.

NOW...off to have another one (or two) cookies!

I am simply blessed to create~~charlotte♡

On the Tenth day of Christmas...

On the Tenth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...LOL

How fast have the days gone by since Christmas?

I just logged on to do my WORD for 2017, and mercy, I found this post I did on the 28th, and never finished it, so, being one not to WASTE things, I am going to share this.

Our Team on Etsy, FAAP is having an after Christmas Sale.  I have been blessed to sell 4 items and I am grinning from ear to ear!  I thought I would share the 20 items that I still have listed at a discounted price.

Remember, that Holiday items make GREAT Wedding Gifts!  One of the best wedding showers I ever attended, was a Holiday Shower.  Most people get every day items, but when the holidays roll around, they have to go shopping, which, isn't a REAL problem, but just something to think about.

I sure do love that I get to create things with my hands.  All those days that Mother did her best to keep our hands busy, I never had any idea the seed she was planting for the direction of my life.
I KNOW, she was doing her best to keep me and Brian from fighting, but what great skills she was also implanting in my world.

IF you have children, PLEASE teach them to love the arts, and the joy of doing work with their hands.  Yes, game playing does teach them skills, but to CREATE something is a gift.  Teach them BASIC skills they will need for life--to cook, to repair things, to grow things (yes, I guess mold on food in the fridge is a lesson, too), to organize their toys/books/possessions, to HELP with chores--not EVERYTHING we do deserves MONEY to get it done, because service is a vital part of living.

I am so thankful for the lessons my Parents taught me, even when I didn't know they were teaching me!  WOW--what a blessed child I was.

Check out my teammates items, also.  

I am surrounded by talented artists!

Click here to magically pop into my etsy shop!

Thank you to each of you that has encouraged me.

You have no idea how much it means!

BUT you have ONLY yourself to blame 

for seeing more of me--LOL

I am simply blessed to create~charlotte♡