Sisters - Take Two

Just a bit more on my long weekend with my sisters. Do you have sisters? Do you get together for a couple of days, without husbands, children, just to reconnect?

I loved growing up with my sisters. Diane and I would play with the farm animals together - dressing up the calves and leading them around the yard. We didn't have Barbies, so we used our imagination and the poor critters who were subject to our affections. Teresa, as the eldest (note I did not use the word "old"), was the one I looked up to. Two years ahead of me I strived to follow in her footsteps. In someways I did, but I certainly set out on my own path when finding my niche in highschool. I remember sharing the dresser mirror, getting ready to go to a dance, discussions on hair styles and make-up - sister talk!

As our families gather at holidays rarely does "sister talk" come into play. Our weekend away was a time to reconnect on this level. We admired the very expensive clothing in the tourist town stores of Door County, and there were some bargains to be had. We talked about colors, you know...are you a "winter", "summer", or "autumn" kind of gal. What color makes your face light up, or as I like to say "pop" (kind of a carry over term from scrapbooking). Diane's clothing choices are fine, but what we really noticed is that she lights up in burnt orange and rust - the woman is a definite "fall" and she had been mis-lead to believe she is a "winter". My own shopping acquistions included finding a few things for the kitchen, including a cool clip on spoon holder - perfect to hold the soup ladle for a large pot of soup.
On Friday night a local art studio, called Hands On, opens up to the adults of the community. From 6:30-10 p.m. adults only are welcome to come in, bring wine, soda, snacks, whatever you want, and try out a new art medium. You can choose from glazing greenware, metal art painting, glass, and mosaics. I am not sure, but I beleive I saw a pottery wheel as well, but that may not be an option for Friday evenings. I opted to work on a project with mosaic glass. I've always admired it, but hadn't tried it. Although I would have loved to cover a toilet seat lid in mosaic tiles (the sample was awesome!) - we only had a few hours, so I chose a trivet as we could use a nice trivet at home.

Rather than do something simple, as in rows or borders of glass all set in a symetrical pattern - I saw green "leaf" shaped glass and white iridescent circles that made me think of flower parts. I created a floral design in my favorite scrapbooking colors of red and aqua. I had some trouble cutting the glass as I envisioned it, but realized that art does not need to be perfect. I was running out of time, and had to just let it happen as our group closed the place down because of my tedious project. I have to say, however, that it was worth the time - I love how it turned out. I have to thank Mitch and Hilde who at times took pity on my slow progress and helped cut some glass. (LOL)


At any rate, I think the Hands On Art Studio was one of my favorite parts of our Door County trip. If I vacation up there with my family, and we get rained in and are not able to go bird watching - I am pretty sure that all of use could happily spend the day there. I would do another mosaic, Abby would paint a plate, Kyle might paint a metal salamander, and if Jesse could operate a potter's wheel - he would!

You may wonder, did I scrapbook on my 4 day weekend? I actually had not planned to, but when Teresa told me she was bringing her new Cricket along so we could figure out how to use it together I packed up some supplies to make a few Thanksgiving cards and start a mini album I plan to give for Christmas. The Cricket was pretty straightforward, and for a person who likes to attend crops, its portability is perfect for my sister. I did share the tip about Krylon repositionable spray on adhesive. It seemed the manufacturer of Cricket wants to sell you a new mat everytime it loses its tackiness to hold the paper medium. Since my own Element advocates the Krylon, I am sure it will work for the smaller version of the Cricket. I did manage a few cards and got a start on my album. If I had not gone away to do this I am not sure I actually would have got this gift done for Xmas, but now I am certain that I will.

Have sisters? Arrange a weekend away. You will be glad you did. God gives us sisters so we will have best friends throughout life, no matter how many mistakes and wrong choices we make. Be sure to find time for sister time only, you will be glad you did.

(note - this post has been sitting as a draft for a few, waiting for me to add that photo. We've been spending day/night at the hospital since Tues.night. Guess what I am blogging about next?)