Still Here!

Yep--it has been over a month since my last post on this blog.



Sorry. It seems as though I turn around and the month has quickly passed. However, I have been pretty busy so I guess it's not too bad.



I went to Amsterdam ---LOVED IT! However, next time I go, I want to take the whole family and I will avoid going during Queen's Day. It was entirely too crowded and crazy. I did come back completely inspired in a lot of areas. I was able to visit the Van Gogh museum---I love Van Gogh and this was a real treat! I learned a lot more about the artist and many styles he experimented with that I had no idea he had even tried. When you think of Van Gogh, you usually think of Sunflowers or "Starry Night", right? Did you know he did a whole series of paintings inspired by Japanese paintings?



I didn't. And these we some of my favorites in the museum. We had a really good lunch at the museum cafe, then went on to explore some more areas in town. I am completely infatuated with Amsterdam and can't wait to get back. Hubby and I are discussing taking the whole family next year when we can take at least a full 7 days to explore the city. I love the architecture and the vibe of the city. It is spectacular!!

Among the many things I loved in Amsterdam, I adored the shawls and scarves the ladies wore. I ended up picking up 6 of these for myself and regret that I did not buy many more. I am going to look at fabric at the craft store this week because I think I'll be able to make several of these from light fabrics and silks.

I came back inspired on many levels.

I got home and promptly ordered watercolors so that I start painting again. In Amsterdam I came across several artist selling their art in little shops and thought " I can do this too". One of my favorites was a print maker--I bought one of his prints and wished I had bought more. He had the copper plates from his prints at the shop and it caught my interest. I want to learn printmaking. Wichita State University has a printmaking major, but I think I saw printmaking classes at Wichita Center for the Arts at one point. I'll have to check it out. If nothing else, maybe I can learn woodcut printing.

On the home front, I did get 11 rose bushes planted around my yard with the help of my hubby and kids. I still have to put in the raised beds SOON and plant flowers around the yard, but that is going slowly since I have my 3 yr old grand nephew staying with us. He is pretty high energy, so we have to really keep up with him. He is learning the rules here at Aunt Rhonda's, so it is getting a little calmer. This is freeing up minutes little by little. So is the arsenal of Dora the Explorer DVDs we've stocked up on.

I will be posting pictures sometime this week. We had to get another computer right before I left for Amsterdam since our computer crashed--the new one was an upgrade, but we assumed an SD card reader came standard, which it didn't. Hubby got a card reader yesterday--I just have to take the time to upload photos. I was discussing this with a girl at the yarn shop and she mention I could just upload directly from the camera using the cable that came with my camera. OMG. I hadn't even thought of that! Now I feel like a dummy!!