I always wanted to learn to play the piano. Living upstairs in my grandparents house there was barely room for the seven of us in four rooms let alone a piano. But anytime I visited any friends or family that had a piano I was always drawn to it. I could pick out a couple of common tunes including "Chopsticks" of course. And I did get to play an instrument eventually - the clarinet. Though that was short-lived.
We bought the kids keyboards for Christmas one year and the thought crossed my mind yet again to properly learn how to play it, but I never pursued it. HWNSNBP played the accordion - pretty well I'm told. We still have it I think, but he hasn't touched it since the kids were very small and he brought it out to show them.
My cousin(s) played the accordion extremely well when they were teens and performed in competitions. I think playing the accordion helped my cousin to easily learn to play the piano. Sadly, she doesn't do much of either these days as arthritis has affected her dexterity. Today happens to be her birthday and so I made her this card which is a combination of old and new. The butterflies were in my scrap box - all else is new including the butterfly embossing folder which is barely visible in these pictures. (The white panel is embossed with the butterflies.)
We'll be going to tea in a couple of weeks to celebrate her birthday because right now she's taking care of her husband after his recent knee surgery. So I created this card for him to wish a speedy recovery. I think I need a little more practice with my brayering technique, but this didn't turn out too bad.
Being on vacation this week afforded me the opportunity to catch up with some other projects like these thank you notes. The stamp is from Unity and I used my MISTI to stamp all the images first and then used my aquapainter and inks to color them.
Oh geez, I just reminded myself that I owe "prizes" to two staff members for a little contest we had ordering supplies. I try to do something handmade for the winners. Do you think a set of thank you notes (not necessarily with this image) would be good? A box of 4 or 8 maybe?
Number wise there are 5 baby blues in this picture that was taken when they were 9 days old.
And here they are at 12 days old. I suspect that they will fledge within the 3-4 days. It will be the second brood for Mr. & Mrs. Blue this summer.
Just sneaking in a picture of the photographer of these bird pictures. See how he had to stuff the opening of the box just in case they started jumping and found their way out. We won't open the box again.
I think the cards would be a great prize. I have made card sets for family members before as gifts, but I don't finish them. I provide various sentiments with glue strips on the back, so they can add their own for the specific occasion - birthday, get well, thinking of you, thank you, etc. I call them 'Emergency' card sets. They tell me they have used them and they have come in handy.
ReplyDeleteThanks Dorrie. That's a great idea for the sentiment strips. I will surely do that too!
DeleteOh wow, I love the beautiful mountains you painted on that get well card!
ReplyDeleteWhat beautiful cards. I didn't know he was having knee surgery - but then, I had our mail on hold while we were away and it won't be delivered till tomorrow so who knows what will be in it. I love the butterflies with the swirly die.
ReplyDeleteEvery single time I try brayering I know I need a lot more practice. It's easier for me to just sponge :D.
And - it's never too late to learn!! DH had a work colleague who always wanted to learn cello, and sure enough, she took it up when she retired and has been loving it. In terms of piano, I know that manual dexterity is diminished with age but just for pleasure it could be worth it. My mother, in her sixties, found a piano teacher she really liked and who was happy to teach with no focus on doing the grades, and she really enjoyed getting back to it after many years away from playing.