I LOVE the OLD Hymns... Sunday, May 31, 2015

I was raised in a house with music…GROWING up, VERY few days were without Mother singing and/or humming a hymn…I remember getting so irritated that she would sing the SAME song over and over…sometimes the same line…over and over…

My oldest brother, Bob, has a beautiful tenor voice. Brian, the middle child, is blessed with a gorgeous bass voice.  Mother sang alto.  When she was young, she would sing often with her twin sister, at revivals.  Daddy sang lead, although he could harmonize.  I was given an alto/soprano voice.  Mother would sing along with me when I young to teach me to stay on key while she would sing harmony.

Art by Amanda

I started taking piano in the third grade, along with Brian, who only took a few years because he needed to do BOY THINGS…sad, really, because HE was the one who had the gift for piano.  Mother searched for a teacher who was interested in teaching us to play for our own enjoyment, and well, for CHURCH…LOL…She believed, and taught us well, that ALL our gifts were to be used for the GLORY of GOD!

I have often said that I was born into the wrong generation, because I much prefer OLD Songs…songs that I could understand the words…songs that spoke to me…songs with a melody…songs with words that could inspire or could share an emotion that I UNDERSTOOD…I am an old soul…

 What I REALLY love and have come to appreciate are the OLD HYMNS…I was raised on them…NOW that I have lived life and experienced every emotion imaginable, these hymns speak to ME…I HATE how money has been wasted to make them POLITICALLY correct~~HATE IT!  So much of the meaning has been lost and it has taken away one’s ability to SEARCH for what that song means…It saddens me that so many of the young’ens have no CLUE about the OLD HYMNS…Change is ok…it makes me sad sometimes, but LIFE has to move on…I wish it could take along the GOOD STUFF with it a little bit more…

Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate some of the new songs and ditties…I only WISH they could have found more than just ONE LINE to sing over and over…sigh…

The old songs spoke of HELL…we don’t find churches speaking much of HELL anymore…heck, SOMEBODY might get mad and leave or not feel GOOD about themselves…AND WHAT is entertaining about that?  We have dummied down God’s Word so that EVERYONE will be HAPPY…heavier sigh…Sometimes we NEED to be pruned to grow big and strong!! My parent’s sure didn’t hesitate to PRUNE me and I am SO THANKFUL they cared enough to NOT always tell me I was right…that there were rules I HAD to follow…that MY OPIONION was simply that~~my opinion and that in no way made me RIGHT, but it also didn’t make me wrong, either!  

  

I UNDERSTAND the POWER OF MUSIC…it is universal.  I had a conversation with a friend, who has his Doctorate from Vandy and taught at the college I attended and is a part-time, well, he PREACHES… one day we were talking about our frustrations with churches.  I made the statement that SO MANY PREACHERS THINK their sermon is the MOST important part of worship and Well, no need to continue with what all we said, BUT he made the statement that PASTORS are the most EDUCATED and most UNDERPAID workers…I sat there and started to think of the 12 years I took piano, the 4 years of organ lessons, the hours of practice I spent, the four years of voice lessons, the HOURS of practicing for the singing group I was in…hmmmmmmm…I was at church EVERY SUNDAY to play the piano, EVERY SUNDAY for choir practice, EVERY worship service~~morning and night…staying after choir practice to practice special music with the organist…music classes for children/youth…VBS director…Sunday School teacher…class parties…YEP…I was OVERPAID…I didn’t receive a SINGLE penny and NEVER did I get a thank you from the Pastors or from our board of Elders…and when I quit, NOBODY cared at all…YEP…OVERPAID, but then, THAT is not why I did it!! BOY HOWDY!!!

My Mother’s tattered Bible and several hymn books are within reach of where I paint!  They are my reference books of WHAT is important in my life…the basis of WHO I am and WHO I belong to!

NOW, that I am older, I UNDERSTAND why Mother sang the same song/lines over and over…it was her PRAYER…she was asking and seeking DIRECTION…I find myself doing the same thing…I have lost count of the many times I have sung, “Lead me Lord, Lead me in Thy righteousness.  Make THY WAY plain, before my face.”

Those who were raised on the old hymns, I simply need to say a LINE and your mind will take off~~it doesn’t take much to rekindle the heart’s memory…

I NEED Thee, O, I NEED Thee…EVERY Hour I NEED THEE…

Make Me a BLESSING, to SOMEONE today…

Amazing Grace, How Sweet the Sound…

Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing, Tune my heart to sing Thy Grace…

On a Hill, far away…

I come to the Garden Alone, while the dew is still on the Roses…

Holy, Holy, Holy…Lord, God, Almighty…

All to Jesus, I surrender…(No. 316 in our hymnal as a child)

Down at the Cross where my Savior died…

Mercy there was great and GRACE WAS FREE, Pardon there was multiplied to me…There my burdened soul found LIBERTY at Calvary!!!

When the Roll is Called up Yonder I’ll be there!

Wonderful Grace of Jesus…

Great is Thy Faithfulness!  Morning by morning new mercies I see!

I MISS the old songs and I miss playing and singing…BUT these TRUTHS are in my heart and my service has changed to another of my gifts…I HOPE today that you will have a SONG in your heart…I HOPE that you will reflect on the words you were taught as a child and NOT depart from them…AND if you were not taught as a child, I HOPE that you will SEARCH because what you will FIND will change your heart…

…Blessings to YOU…~charlotte

On the FOURTH DAY of Christmas, Sunday, December 14, 2014

Our tradition was to have Christmas Breakfast with Daddy’s Family.  His Sister and her husband and his brother would come to our house most every year, but a few times, we did go to Aunt Lattie’s house.  We would have a potluck meal with Mother’s family, often on Christmas Eve.

Our Breakfast was HUGE and it would remain on the table all day for us to snack on.  Some of the items were:  Country Ham and red-eye gravy, Fried Chicken and gravy, Sausage and/or Sausage Balls, homemade Rolls or Biscuits, Homemade Jelly, scrambled eggs, Cheesy Garlic Grits, Fruit Salad, Frozen Cranberry Salad, hash browns or hashbrown casserole, the LAST tomato that was saved from the garden, Coffee, Hot Chocolate (Uncle Edger LOVED Hot Chocolate), Hot Spiced Tea and whatever was the NEW recipe of the moment!

We had a round oak table and we would all sit together as we fellowshipped after saying the blessing for another year of being together.  I don’t EVER remember there being a moment of silence, although it was a BIT quieter when we would start eating.

After Breakfast, Daddy, who was ALWAYS the last one to finish eating, normally, would be the FIRST one finished and READY to open presents…it was so much fun to see the twinkle in his eyes!!  He really DID become as a child at Christmas…I MISS that so MUCH!!

One of my favorite memories was the year that Aunt Lattie and Uncle Otto spent the night with us on Christmas Eve.  At that time, we had the Christmas Tree in the Den, so it had to be BEFORE 1970 because I think that was the year that Mother bought our FIRST Artificial Tree from Tractor Supply…LOL!!

We turned out the lights and had only the lights on our LIVE Christmas tree.  My brother, Brian, read The Christmas Story for us from the Bible.  I remember having such a WARM feeling as we sat in the den that was beautifully lit by the lights of the tree.

I LOVED our Family Christmases but I remember how each year as we lost another family member, there was always a void that just couldn’t be filled.  I was so blessed to have such great memories of times together with my family and I don’t understand why others didn’t get that chance, but I do NOT take them for granted.  I hope that as you look around your table this year, you will remember the GOOD times you have shared and the LOVE you have for each other, because THIS could be the last with some of your family and friends…do NOT take it for granted…TELL them and SHOW THEM what they mean to YOU!

I want to offer this line drawing BELOW to YOU in HONOR of the meaning of Christmas.  I sketched this out 3 years ago and had every plan to get it cut out and painted THIS YEAR, but so far, that hasn’t happened.  While you are free to do with it as you please, I planned to cut it from wood, with the star cut out, and a 2x2 placed behind it with a tea light to shine through the star.  The Baby Jesus can be cut separately, or just painted onto the front.  This pattern can be stitched or used in mixed media~~use the IMAGINATION that you have been gifted with!  

To copy the pattern, simply right-click your mouse and a bunch of options should appear…Choose Save Image to…and name the file…I will leave this up until sometime in January, so Save it NOW!!

I hope that you will enjoy THIS DAY OF REST to refresh your SOUL as you continue to prepare YOUR HEART for the CELEBRATION of the Birth of Christ…Blessings to YOU…~charlotte♥

Preparing for THANKSGIVING, Monday, November 24, 2014

I absolutely LOVE the TV show BLUE BLOODS.  Most every time I watch, I leave with a lump in my throat or tears in my eyes.  I KNOW this happens because of the scenes that take place around the table.  They all have a task in helping prepare the meal and they say THANKS.  I was watching a rerun last night and a couple of them WANTED to say GRACE.  If ONLY, we were ALWAYS WANTING to offer the blessing, instead of shrinking down so that we would NOT be called on to pray!

 I was one of those who was raised around our kitchen table.  At 6:30 PM each night, we were EXPECTED to be at the house, ready to eat supper TOGETHER.  It was NOT a punishment, but a way of life.  I BELIEVE that made a difference in the way we reacted to the world.  We knew what was expected of us and we didn't question it.  We laughed, we cried, we fussed, we made-up around that table.  We shared LIFE.

This is the week of the American Thanksgiving.  While I believe that we should live a THANKFUL life, it sure doesn't hurt to have ONE day set aside for that SPECIFIC reason.

I've been thinking about Thanksgiving a lot these past few weeks.  I've been trying to remember my FAVORITE memories and I can close my eyes and see and hear my family gathered for a day to GIVE THANKS.

We always had Thanksgiving with Mother's family.  She was the baby of 8 children and she also had a twin sister, Mary.  Mother always said that SHE was named properly and was most definitely a MARTHA, because she worried about things that didn't matter, and her sister, Mary was the one who would have sat at the feet of Jesus while Martha was busily readying the house for HIS visit.

We would have potluck at one of the sister's houses each year.  The hostess would provide the meat and drinks and others would bring POT LUCK items.  They would call each other to discuss who was bringing WHAT.  Aunt Becky or Mother made the dressing (we do NOT have stuffing in my house...the ONLY thing we STUFF is our FACES.  Dressing is made in a separate dish from the turkey.) and she ALWAYS brought the turnip greens and usually cooked apples.  Aunt Sybil would bring a container of just about ANYTHING she had from white beans to a CAN of Cranberry sauce.  Mother ALWAYS made cranberry relish like her Mother had taught her to make with oranges, apples and cranberries ground together with sugar added~~Thanksgiving was NOT Thanksgiving without this relish.  My cousin, Cheryl, would make deviled eggs because Uncle Cecil LOVED them.  We always had enough food for everyone to take home enough for another meal or two.

Today's funny memory is the year SOMEONE forgot the vinegar for the turnip greens.  Jack, my cousin's husband, thought surely the WORLD would end!  NEVER did THAT happen again.  

My favorite TOUCHING memory is when we would gather at Aunt Sybil's house and before Grace, we were each asked to share ONE THING for which we were THANKFUL.

TODAY, I am THANKFUL for YOU.  You have shared with me.  You have supported me.  You have uplifted me.  You have encouraged me.  YOU have shown me love WAY more than I deserve and I am THANKFUL!  

THANK YOU for stopping by my little corner of the world...I hope that I have brought you some JOY...Blessings to YOU...~charlotte

Painting with MY FRIENDS...Monday, March 31, 2014

Time got away from me again, but then we just have to SOMETIMES make decisions...

I've been trying to paint some of the designs of my friends the past few weeks...

I LOVE to think about my friends as I am painting their design...

The First design I painted was by my friend, Mindy, from the Woodshop in West Virginia...

I was HONORED to be able to be the first to paint this...We did a pattern packet together and you can buy it from Mindy's shop... click  HERE  or from my etsy shop by clicking HERE

Mindy is one of my group of friends that I met in a painting group...She is a VERY naughty girl, JUST like the rest of them...ME?  I'm the GOOD one...

Mindy is the REASON that people post pictures of SQUIRRELS with me looking for NUTS...

She is funny and talented and WELL NAUGHTY!

 IF you need wood cut, then Mindy is your gal!

She is a mother, a grandmother, a wife, a woodcutter, a friend, and SO much more rolled up into a tiny little body of strength...She KNOWS what is important in life and I'm glad to say 

SHE is my Friend!

The next thing that I painted was a candle mat by Sheila Landry...

It is a PAINTING with Friends Pattern, designed by Sheila

You will be hearing this a lot, but WHAT a talent she is!! 

Sheila lives in Canada, but don't get any ideas, she is NOT your typical NICE Canadian that we hear so much about...

Could it be BECAUSE she is from Chicago...BWAH!!

Sheila and her boyfriend design and cut some of the most AWESOME scroll saw designs I have ever seen...

You can find her link on the left side of my blog...

Sheila is a Mother, a Grandmother, a cook, a classically trained pianist, and so much more...

Sheila also cuts wood if ever you need any...

While Mindy SEEMS all sweet on the outside, Sheila does NOT try to hide it ONE BIT...BWAH HA HAHAHAHAAA...

No, Sheila is one of the sweetest, most supportive friends that one could EVER wish to have in your life...

The next design I painted was by Sharon Cook

Sharon is not like my other friends...she is NEVER naughty and ALWAYS NICE...I'm sure she does NOT have to sweat out the Christmas Season WONDERING which list she is on!

Sharon creates the funniest characters with BIG NOSES and EYES...hmmm...the better to SMELL you with and SEE you with my dear??  I'm not sure about that!!

Sharon is a TRUE reflection of God's love by the way she interacts and encourages others...

I am SO blessed that I get to RECEIVE the LOVE from Sharon...

To find her patterns click HERE

The last pattern that I got painted was by my friend, Silvia Andreoli, from Italy...

 

I LOVE this pattern...Silvia had painted it on a lampshade, but I put it on a tea kettle...I LOVE it...

I thought about where Silvia lives...She is a farm girl like me...

I remembered her telling me of living close to a resort and watching the fireworks on several occasions...

Silvia and I love MANY of the same TV shows...

I laughed when she told me that she watches them in English

THEN in Italian...She doesn't WANT to miss anything!

Click HERE to find here patterns.

This last picture is from another of my friends in New York...

Suzie Q, as I call her, is Italian, too...LOL...

I LOVE this bunny painted with Suzanne's darling primitive touch. IT is NOW a very special treasure from ANOTHER one of my NAUGHTY friends!!  

Suzanne is CRAZY, but she is so full of love...

Like my other friends, she is a Mother, a wife, a Grandmother and a good friend with a GREAT sense of humor!

I was so happy to receive this bunny wabbit,  that I designed a sheep, which we BOTH love, JUST for her...

 

Suzanne painted him and shared him and I think she did MUCH better than I did...I LOVE how she put him on a penny rug!!

 

While it may seem that I get NOTHING done, I think you can say that I have gotten SOME things done...If nothing else than PLAYING with my friends...

I have been BLESSED beyond Measure!!

Oh, and one last thing...One of the teams that I am on is having a SPRING SALE on Facebook starting April 1 - April 20...You must be a friend of ours to be added, BUT that is NOT a problem...IF you are my friend, then let me  know you want to be added and I will get that done...I have already seen some things that I would LOVE to have!!

 

I HOPE that you have some GOOD friends that you enjoy being with and sharing with...Be SURE to tell them ALL how much they mean to YOU...Blessings to YOU...~charlotte♥

Painting a Bird's Nest Bowl...Sunday, March 16, 2014

I've spent the last few days reflecting on WHAT was important to Mother...What she liked to do, what qualities in a person were important to her, but MOST of all, I have remembered HOW CREATIVE she was...She instilled this in all of us...

So today, I thought I would share how to paint this Bird's nest bowl...

Mother LOVED to watch the hummingbirds, goldfinches and got SO EXCITED the first time she saw a bluebird on our farm.  When she saw a bird that was new, she would track in down in the bird book...

I use Americana Paint by DecoArt.  I have used these paints for YEARS and I LOVE the color pallet and the consistency of the paint...WHEN I open a bottle of Americana, I know EXACTLY what the paint will be like!

If you do not use this brand, then use what YOU have and change the colors to reflect what YOU like...BECAUSE...Ok, Karalee...It is JUST PAINT and I want you to learn to LOVE to paint and to ENJOY it...

The colors I used were:  French Vanilla, Black, Raw Umber, Raw Sienna, Fawn, Light Avocado, Green Tea, Evergreen, Spa Blue, Indian Turquoise

The bowl I used was a 10 inch bowl and it came ALREADY based with Gesso...Ok...I understand that just flew over SOME of your heads...But you can find wooden bowls of all shapes and sizes at most any thrift shop...Clean them with HOT soap water and let them Dry THOROUGHLY...IF you wish, you may base them in WHITE to make the colors brighter, BUT this is NOT necessary... 

I based the bowl with two coats of Spa Blue...After this had dried, I added another coat of Spa Blue and WHILE it was still WET, I added some strokes of Indian Turquoise in an X pattern...the goal is to have some of both colors showing AND by mixing these two colors, you will get various shades of blue...Do NOT over-mix...Paint very loosely until it is what YOU LIKE...Let this dry completely...IF you paint gets MUDDY, and you will KNOW mud when you see it, LET it dry and start over...Don't fret!!

I then took Raw Umber and a #1 liner brush and thinned it just a bit and started in the center and drew squiggly lines in a circle...Do NOT worry if the blue shows through, because you will do this same things several more times...

 

As you can see, I added some Raw Sienna with this and started filling in more of the circles being careful to cover more of the blue

You will see pictures of the same thing...just keep adding swiggly lines...Here I'm adding more Raw Sienna and Raw umber..

 

I then added Black to the Raw Umber and added darker lines because when you paint a bird's nest, you want the base to be darker and then add LIGHTER colors (or highlights) on the top layers...this will give your nest some DEPTH.  Painting is simply building layers and that is what you are doing...

 

ok...so let me review WHAT I have done to this point...

I started with thinned Raw umber and laid in the FORM

I next added some Raw Sienna in this

Raw Umber mixed with black was added next which started the process of building your layers...the first two steps were JUST to get the SHAPE of the next defined.

I again added More Raw Sienna

Fawn was next

AND French Vanilla Highlights were added last...

I added some STRAY twigs to the top of the nest with the darker mix HIGHLIGHTED with the lighter colors...Leaves will be added to the STRAY twigs..

The next thing I did was to make a feather with the center being a straight line.  Feathers were added with an 18/0 liner brush using Indian Turquois and white

 

The leaves were done by double loading a #6 Flat brush with Light Avocado and Green Tea...IF you cannot do a one-stroke leaf, don't fret...SIMPLE paint a leaf shape with your #1 liner and Light Avocado.  WITHOUT getting your brush wet, with just a small amount of paint, work the Green Tea on the right side of the leaf and quickly blend the two colors with your brush...Add stems with your 18/0 liner brush...add some leaves inside the nest also... 

I added some smaller leaves with Evergreen and Green Tea using a #4 flat brush

 

Add some eggs using Spa Blue...The shape is simply an EGG shape...you can do it WITHOUT a pattern!  When you paint your eggs, have them overlapping so they will look more natural...Shade with Indian Turquoise...When this is dry, using an old scruffy brush, pick up JUST a very small amount of white and dry brush this into the center of your eggs.  When this dries, using a STIFF toothbrush, fleck Indian Turquoise onto the eggs (don't worry if it gets on the nest, BUT you can always remove them with a damp q-tip)

I then shaded around the eggs and feather with Black and that is it...I signed the bowl and later I will seal it with a Brush-on varnish...This will soon be on its way to its new owner is a swap I am in...I hope she will like it...

 

 What I LOVE about painting is being able to create something that is a REFLECTION of ME...I paint WHAT I like and do my best to add MY OWN style...Don't say you CAN'T, but instead TRY...I hope you see how simple this can be...

I am THANKFUL that my Mother encouraged me to be CREATIVE and that she led by example...Have a WONDERFUL WEEK and be a REFLECTION of the LOVE that has been shown to you...Blessings to YOU...~charlotte♥