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Hey blog pals -

I am back from SPAIN!!! We have actually been home since Saturday. I am SO jet-lagged still. It's been hard getting up at 4am everyday for work and than working for 9 1/2 hours. I talked with several nurse/doctor friends of mine and they said it might take me up to a week to adjust back to this time zone. Several others said something about flying west messes them up and that's how we flew home. Hopefully by Saturday I will be well adjusted! So, I am hoping to post photos and tell you all about my trip over to see my daughter, Meg, and the beautiful country of Spain this weekend.

Meanwhile, do any of you have an iphone? If so, do you have Instagram? I am obsessed with this app. If you want to follow me I'm.....@bettylovesashley

Can't wait to catch up on reading your blogs and seeing what has been going on in your lives. But right now....I'm going to bed!

-Betty

Student Competitive Art Show

This past week was the 2011 Student Competitive Art Show at UCA. My baby girl, Tori, is a junior there. She entered 3 pieces and 2 were selected to be in the show. There were a total of 227 pieces entered....the largest one UCA has seen....only 57 were selected to be in show and compete.

The awards are: 4 honorable mention - 3 Awards of Excellence & 1 grand prize. The awards of excellence received $100 & grand received $500.

Tori learned early in the week that her installation was up for an award! John was home when she got the call and he said she was jumping up and down with excitement!

Out of 57 pieces....only 8 awards....Tori was the second to last called...talk about me holding my breath....she won an Award of Excellence!!

Her piece she did is very touching. It represents her memories of my Dad (he passed in 2006) and of my mother....her memories of their home....where she spent a lot of her childhood.
Here she is explaining the art work to Grandma . She is pointing to the book that happens to be my favorite.

This one! That's my parents wedding photo and that was my Dad's tie.
Here is a close up of the left side of the book.

One of his many, many hospital wrist bands. He always gave Tori his bands. Also, the blue shirt in the background was his favorite shirt.

It's hard to see it, but in the middle circle are the actual staples from one of his last surgeries.

Another piece of his favorite blue shirt.

This one is empty. I'm not sure why she left it empty. But everyone looks at art differently, right?! So, when I look at this I think of my Dad being gone...part of us is empty because he isn't with us anymore.

The artist with her work. I am SO proud of her and all of her accomplishments!! It was an honor just to be selected to be in the student competitive show, but to WIN was even sweeter!!!!

She also won 1st place in a show the week before. She has yet to get that drawing back. When she does you can bet I'll blog about it!

Birthday, Quilts & Blankies

John turned 42 this past weekend. All day he kept saying, Babe, 42....42 babe. We celebrated on his day by going to Coco's, our favorite Mexican restaurant. All he wanted was a GIANT Margarita! We got there before happy hour was over so we could get that sucker for 1/2 price!

Let me just say when you turn 42...eat a lot of Mexican & drink (almost) all a giant margarita....this is what happens to you at 7pm.

You pass out...on the couch with your coat & glasses still on.

I finished binding & quilting the Color Me Badd quilt on Saturday. Today, Tori delivered it to it's owner. I'll admit...I had a hard time seeing it go. I always get attached to my quilts, but this one was different...I mean I really got attached to it. Maybe because I dreamt of the design in the middle of the night and got up right then and sketched it all out.

My label...I finally remembered to label a quilt! I've forgotten to do so on the last 3.

I'm happy that it's going to be loved.

Dinosaur has been wanting a quilt like his brother Reeses. I don't have the time right now to make another doggy quilt, so I whipped him up this flannel blankie. It's funny because he knows it's his.

Composition Notebook Makeover

Do you like Do-it-Yourself projects?

I do!

I was stumbling on my latest obsession (thanks to my daughter, Tori, for getting me addicted) the website, "Stumbleupon.com." There are millions of DIY websites out there.

I came across a blog where a lady had covered her composition book with fabric. I immediately knew I wanted to do that to my comp book.

and to my sketch book...especially the sketch book...this cover is UGLY!

There are several different ways to cover the book. I went with this tutorial here because it was the quickest. I love the way Vanessa covered her comp book. I plan on making this one, but it'll have to be later this month because I have 3 quilts to finish by the 14th. I must focus on the quilts and quit making small projects.

Voilà....here they are! Pretty cute, huh?!