Lily P. Winthrop

You Smell Fantastic!

Christmas ideas?  Perfume to sniff?  These are my favorites and I thought I'd share.

Paris

Always a classic.

Comptoir Sud Pacific-Vanille Coco

 It's a min-vacation to paradise.

Christian Dior-Midnight Poison

 

Combien romantique !

Tom Ford-Black Orchid

One of my personal favorites.  Tom Ford can do no wrong.

Demeter-Hershey's Milk Chocolate Kisses

If your man goes postal over chocolate, he'll go crazy when he smells your neck (or decollatage!).

D&G-18 La Lune, another of my personal favorites, and Stellaluna's as well.

 
 
Marc Jacobs-Lola.  This seems to be the most popular fragrance of the year.  It smells lovely but I'm not a sheep.  Baaaaahhh.

Thierry Mugler-Angel Liqueur de Parfum

 

I want this one.  Thierry Mugler rocks my nose's world.

Parisienne-YSL

 Yves Saint Laurent, the master.  It smells like heaven.  If I knew what heaven smelled like....

They can all be found at www.sephora.com.
 

Sharon's Mad Photography Skillz

I love her photos, she's incredibly talented. If you'd like to see more of her work, click here.

Style Black by MAC

I thought I'd give you a quick preview.  It comes out on the 26th.

I just want the Baby Goth nail polish but the collection looks like a lot of fun! 

Oh, beauty......

http://theoccasionalgardener.blogspot.com/

Need a visual vacation?  This site is a feast for the eyes. 

Boys Are Magical Creatures

I enjoyed working with this Jenni Bowlin  kit.  I put my favorite pictures  of the boys from this year on it, one of Jack from Halloween (he went as Prefontaine) and one of Noah with a big smile on his face.  The other one was taken at the Smithsonian, the boys are looking at a hissing cockroach.  

Oh, happy days!

So That's All You've Got?

The comment from my buddy made me laugh out loud.  I'm really sorry about my lame posting (You Tube is not posting, I know) and will be back here with real pictures after the 7th.  I have some creative deadlines coming up so I'm going to tuck my head back in the shell.  

'Home for the Holidays' My Christmas Card for FBRN.

On the back it reads "Our wish is that every French Bulldog have a home."  

They've sold out!!!! 

I'd like to thank everyone over at FBRN but especially to Kathy for putting it all together.  She's done a lot of work to get these cards moving and I appreciate her friendship in addition to everything else she does.

You can see the list of Frenchies that are currently available for adoption here. Once you're there, you can click on the photo for more information on each available French Bulldog.  If you think that particular Frenchie would be a good fit for you-click on the link, then you can apply for one online.  

You might be wondering where these rescues come from because I did.  Since I've been working with the FBRN and have read some of the stories, it has been truly heartbreaking at times and it haunts me for days. How anyone could beat an animal is something I will never understand.

These intelligent, affectionate and incredibly devoted dogs come to the FBRN from a variety of situations. There are some Frenchies that have never known life outside of a cage (puppy mill dogs). Some are strays or owner surrenders. Some are pulled from animal shelters or humane societies. Some French Bulldogs are neglected and abused and are turned over to the FBRN by authorities.

If you can't adopt, you could sponsor or foster a French Bulldog, donate money, goods (dog related items like crates, beds, collars, etc), volunteer, transport, check shelters, etc.   You can read more about how you can help a French Bulldog Rescue here.

Thanks for reading my posts and supporting my creative spirit.  

John Singer Sargent, Eyelashes and Yesterday.

 

'Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon' by John Singer Sargent.

Caution....  Stream of consciousness writing ahead.  That's how my husband describes my style here.  

I've read some great blogs and there are some wonderful writers out there (Heather Armstrong, The Frog Princess, Henri Hopper, Andrea S., etc.) and I'm not one of them.  I keep on trying anyway.

 

'Fumee d'Ambre Gris'  White on white... exquisite.

 

Carnation Lily, Lily Rose

 

'Orestes Pursued by the Furies'.  This is one of his murals.  Noah liked this one the most but he hasn't seen the alligators yet.

Here it is, it's called 'Muddy Alligators'.  It's one of his watercolors. 

 

There they are....  The one in the sunlight looks particularly happy to me.  Hugo loves to sunbathe.

 

'Dorothy'  Oil on canvas

 

'Duchess of Marlborough'

Pencil sketch, and I love pencil sketches.  To me, they capture the spirit of the final rendering because it's the idea that excites the artist.

 

I love how he painted his name in the background and I love those big, confident, broad brushstrokes.  The portrait of Pointy was the beloved pet of this woman...

 

'Lady With The Rose'  This was his portrait of socialite Louise Burckhardt with whom Sargent was supposedly in love with in the early 1880s. The Pointy painting was his gift to her.  There was talk of an engagement but she married someone else. 

I wonder what Pointy thought of that power move?  

I have a project to work on with Noah that's due mid-December.  He's thinking that somehow, I can make a Chinese Junk ship with him.  Chinese Junk Ships are not a forte of mine.

Andrew could do it, I've been amazed at what he's made out of balsa wood with the boys.  We'll see, here's the cover of the book. 

 

Masks.  I can make a mask and that's one of the choices on the book report list.  Hello Urban Legends! 

I hope that all of you have a wonderful day.

*******Weekend update....

We went to the PX and I just couldn't do it.  I could not spend $29 on a silly tube of mascara that oscillates.  Couldn't do it.  I wound up buying Voluminous for $5 and some change, instead.  That's crazy.  I'll spend a little more on lipgloss (Buxom) or a special, glittery pot of eyeshadow (Urban Decay's Midnight Cowboy is awesome) when I run out but ahhhh, not mascara.  I'll look into the whole false eyelash thing again though.  

Thanks a lot, Heather.  This is all your fault.  You should trim those eyelashes.

Jack and 3 Sketches

These pictures were taken a couple of days ago. He's looking at the 'Triassic Triops' through the magnifying glass. They're growing a little bit everyday. You put the foil over a part of the aquarium in case they want some shade. They're nothing like Sea-Monkeys. Remember those?

Dimples! I love this picture of him.

The hairdresser I took him to this past week (a salon, not 'Fantastic Sams') cut his sideburns off. We don't know why but they'll grow back.

I was trying to sketch Hugo today. He must have moved about 10 times. He's a dog, it's bound to happen.

Short, self (upside down) portrait. I did a good job on my nose but that's about all.

The boys will like this sketch of Frank, I hope.

Halloween Art Journal-Sweet and Sinister Swap

It's that picture again. I should marry it, I love it so much.

A sketch of her hands, which I always thought were beautiful. I should have finished the sleeve before I posted it.

The hand lettering on my Dracula layout totally sucked (what a pun). That was one class in college I put off until the bitter end, 'Lettering'. To say I didn't like it was an understatement and it shows though my printing is nice. I love fonts, I just don't like hand lettering-if you're 'off' a little bit, it's glaringly obvious.

These 2 pages were for the 'Sweet and Sinister Swap'. It's a Halloween journal, fantastic idea on their part, just wonderful. I'd never thought to keep a Halloween journal.... I'm so glad I managed to squeak in and join in on the fun. It was sheer luck. I'll come up with some costume designs and journal those later.

I've been watching 'Shine A Light' with Noah today while we were sketching. He's drawing pictures of scorpions for a stop-motion puppet project. What a cool little boy.... He liked this song the best.

Mick Jagger is incredible....

It's wonderful that they've given the go ahead to put this on YouTube. My favorites were 'Some Girls' (funny lyrics) and 'Sympathy for the Devil', which (in my humble opinion) is the best song ever written.

Oh Chipboard House, Oh Chipboard House....

I finished the houses today. I should have taken this picture outside because you can't see the glitter.

6 x 12 of the picture I took of Hugo last week on the back deck. I used Heidi Grace paper, some embellishments and then rub ons by Anna Griffin and Autumn Leaves. The chipboard alphabet is by Making Memories.

The Peanuts dancing to Outkast, very cute....

This is called 'dramatic look', hilarious.

Amy Butler, I Like You

Because you give people free, downloadable patterns.

What a woman....

My Birthday Gift from Jack

I love the W on the front of the birdhouse.

You can see the copper roof here, it's lovely. The whole thing, I'm just so impressed. I cried when I saw it. It was so touching to me.

It's incredible. It was something my son made for me with his little hands (hey! They're still little!) and with help from his teacher, of course.

He could have made anything and he chose to make a birthday gift for me. It touched me and I'll never forget it. I'm also never putting it outside-except for this photo. It stays inside the house in a place of honor.

Thank you Jack,and thank you Mr. Morin (his shop teacher)-you're a wonderful teacher.

He's a very popular teacher at Jack's school and having just met him, I can see why. He looks for the best in each student and focuses on their strengths. He had wonderful things to say about Jack at the teacher's meeting and you all know how uncomfortable those can be at times!