Birthdays and art

It's been a long standing tradition with me and my children to make gifts for friends' birthdays. I think it's a much lovelier thing than buying something mass market at some store, (unless of course the gift you buy is a handmade something special), so when Chloe was invited out to her friend Nicole's birthday, she thought long and hard about something special.Nicole is a climber and outdoor girl and loves mountains, so Chloe painted this beautiful painting in the middle of a vintage teak tray.Isn't it lovely?After it was dried and cured, Chloe protected it with varnish so it can be used and it will last.It was my friend Dalyce's birthday this week too.I painted this little robin on one of the 1912 dictionary pages with the word "read" on it. I liked that page for her because Dalyce owns Booklovers, the used book store we love so much.Another little piece of art, I rescued a vintage handmade quilt form the thrift store this week. It's the softest cotton in the world with these perfect little squares and a beautiful pink and white ticking on the back.I washed it today and hung it outside to dry and then kept running to grab it before the rain cloud and re-hung it after the cloud passed. Marathon drying!Then I sat down for a little rest and some kombucha in this glass. One side has a sign which says Impropaganda, and the other has this slogan:I love this glass. It makes me laugh.Anyway, I sat at my dining room table and made all kinds of lists of thing which need to be done in the next two weeks. Whew, tired just thinking about it and thinking that the work to be done on those lists leaves very little time for art!But I wanted to show you one more thing I did this week.I made myself a little travel journal/sketchbook for June in my home country, the Czech Republic.I chose a bright yellow book called The Scent of New-Mown Hay, carefully took almost all the pages out (kept a few front and back pages), and glued in a bunch of signatures (page bundles) made from random paper and some Alphonse Mucha postcards I brought from Prague.I glued two ribbons for book marks into the last few pages along the spine and hung an ancient lead fish from one of the ribbons.And then, just for fun, I painted the first page and my old friend the house sparrow.I love this little bird and paint him often. I love that he lives with me in Vancouver, Oxfordshire and Prague.This page contains all sorts of symbolism for me and is the perfect way for me to begin my summer.