3 days until school starts....

Well, Happy Holidays everyone! This winter break, I decided to spread the holiday cheer by making themed sugar cookies. And not just any sugar cookies, mind you. Human-shaped cookies. Where might this be leading, you ask? Well...(and here I take a moment to cackle)....to none other than Harry Potter character cookies! Actually, I managed to rip off no less than 4 major pop culture franchises in less than two hours with these cookies. And no, the Twilight series is not part of that esteemed group of 4. Anyways, I had quite a lot of fun making them--even if my cookie decorating skills make it a little difficult to tell who's who. It was, I believe, the extent of my holiday "food preparation" experience.





up close of voldemort and umbridge (wearing the horcrux)



Snape is right below Voldemort (my favorite) and Harry and Ron are right next to him. They're both wearing one of Mrs. Weasley's sweaters. Right next to Ron is Ginny wearing the Hogwarts uniform, which wasn't going to be Ginny until I messed the uniform up. There are also three cookies not pictured here, which is no matter because my brother ate one of them and the heads broke off of the two others.

Anyways, aside from cookies, my family just got back from Arizona this afternoon. I took some concentration/ watercolor stuff down with me hoping to finish a piece...but it didn't happen. I made progress, but I still have quite a bit to do. Actually, the first time I tried to start drawing, something rather horrific happened. I was in Las Vegas visiting my aunt and cousin, and we were driving down to Flagstaff, Arizona that day. Anyways, I brought my art stuff outside and was trying to find a dry spot to set it down and go get something else. Well, the only dry spot happened to be a pile of fake wood sitting near the pool. Out of nowhere, this big gust of wind came up and blew my watercolor paper pad open and my "mandrake heart" piece into the pool, along with the picture I was using as a model. Honestly, it was like watching a nightmare. So, of course, I jumped in after it. Thank goodness the steps at the shallow end protruded out farther than in most pools. Really, I only got my jeans wet up to my knees because it hadn't quite got to the deep end (I waded out on the steps). And thank goodness that it was watercolor paper. The regular printer paper that I was using for the model picture was destroyed, but it didn't really matter that much. It was all very exciting.

Lovely photos....

My lovely grandma, my sponsor. She's a watercolor artist, but has done loads of other things including charcoal and pastel. The picture in the background is one of her pieces. Anyways, I owe a great deal to her for her help. She is largely responsible for the art supplies I have accumulated at home and is always happy to critique what I've been working on. When she asks, I'll critique her work. It's a great kind of relationship. We used to paint together every Friday afternoon, and still do somewhat sporadically. Again, I owe her a lot for her support.

New WOA

I've been out taking pictures for the new WOA today, thanks to my dad. Anyways, we were up near Mt. Hood and I was taking a picture of this really old, caved in house when an elderly man with a rifle walked out of the newer house on the property and across the yard. He had this dog that followed him around--but it was the rifle that creeped me out. Honestly. How many people walk around their property with rifles? Personally, I don't think that I look particularly menacing. Anyways, I was about ready to run the opposite direction. When he came out, he wasn't coming towards us--just walking across the yard. But when he came back into view we asked him if he was okay with us taking pictures. He said yeah...scared me, though.

On another note, I haven't been feeling too well today. Everyone around me has been getting sick, and I feel like I usually do the day before I get hit with a cold. I'm sort of nervous, because I don't want to miss any more school. I've already got like four or five absences this year. Usually, I get mildly sick at the beginning of the year and then really sick in February or March. But we'll see.

Concentrations and things....

So. Let's start off by saying that I had a creepy dream last night. Well, more odd than creepy. Snape was in it, which was kind of cool. But then it devolved into me crawling through these dark catacombs with a bunch of drop-offs in the middle of the floor (with odd, flying mermaid-liking creatures living in them). And then a giant amoeba made out of mustard came inching down the tunnel, and I woke up. This was one of the oddest dreams I have ever, EVER, had. Regardless, I've dreamed about Harry Potter and its particular details every night this week, with I think, the exception of Thursday night. Here we have the lake challenge represented from the Triwizard Tournament, and the Sorting Hat. I don't know why the Sorting Hat reminds me of a giant amoeba made out of mustard--I think it must be something from some video game my brother used to play--but either way, this streak of Harry Potter dreams is odd. I've ranted so much about Harry Potter on this blog that I'm finally starting to feel okay with the fact that another one isn't due out until July. Just calmer, and little less obsessed. But apparently, my subconscious has different ideas. Anyways, just wanted to note that I probably won't be ranting about Harry Potter too much anymore until, say, June for those who might question such a thing.

As for concentrations, I have ideas for the next four concentration pieces and am hoping to start painting on Monday! It sort of depends on how crazy tomorrow is homework-wise, but I'm going to try to get a lot done today.