Morris Family Christmas Card Decoded

Alright, the answers you've been waiting for, err... the answers you've thought about maybe once or twice, err... the post you're going to look at because the New Year's Eve hangover is leaving you quite unproductive today and you are destined to have a day of face booking, blogging, or internet browsing. Either way, here are the answers to the holiday card!


2011 was a pretty great year for us, as we learned we were expecting a baby girl (1). I also changed schools, and am teaching at Thomas Hunter Middle School (2) in Mathews, while still teaching dance (3). Because of the constant exhaustion between pregnancy and new job, Brent has taken on the role of ' Brent, can you just do everything?' He makes my lunch and breakfast every morning (4), cooks and washes dishes (7) and has repainted our entire upstairs (8) with the help of some great friends, family and #9. When he is not doing one of those things, he has perfected the art of reminding me how much money we are spending on the baby (6). (I like to counter by reminding him how much money we are saving from wine.) 


Daisy Mae still needs to shed a few pounds (5). Unfortunately, she was there for me every time I couldn't finish a meal during the early months and has taken to following me around anytime I have what appears to be food. (Jokes on here when it is really a prenatal vitamin!) Toeby remains close enough to see what is going on, but far enough to remind us that he is aware that a baby is coming and he is not at all pleased. He was a great help to Brent while painting though (9), always near enough to paint containers, roller trays or wet walls to track a little somewhere. One day I'll learn to keep him outside while we are painting, but to be honest I think its funny when he has a green tail. 


We were lucky enough to visit quite a few places this year, but we lumped several of them in to two main trips. In January we left VA with some great friends and headed to Colorado (10) to ski and meet up with another college friend. I could write an entire post about the dos and don'ts of traveling to CO, but it wouldn't be right without help from Dan Mazzio. The important thing to remember is that in the end we were all allowed to leave the state, although some had to promise not to come back. 


For our fifth anniversary, we took a warmer trip. (This was in the original card design. I drew a button on Brent that said, "I survived 5 years." Meaning, of course, survival of living with me for five years. The Crosses are the only others who can make that claim, and I'm sure there were times when it was questionable just how long they would keep me around. The fact that Brent has made it for five seems like a big accomplishment to me. After looking at the design however, we thought it looked a little like I was saying he was a cancer survivor and took the button out. I bet you weren't expecting random trivia in this post.) Anyway, back to the trips. For our anniversary we took a trip that started at Emerald Isle (11) for two days with the Scatchard family. This was especially nice of them, because they're my brother's inlaws. They have no blood relation to us, but allowed us to crash at their beach cottage for a couple days while we were in route to Myrtle Beach (12). After a few nights in Myrtle, we headed to Charleston where we spent the remainder of our anniversary trip (13). We made it back home, spending an entire day in the car together, another reason Brent should get a badge- I'm not the best car companion. 


We stayed home for a few and then headed out again, this time on a Northern escapade. We hit NYC (14)  for a couple days while staying with Brent's cousins who were nice enough to let us use their home as our personal hotel. After the city we went to Philly (15) to stay with another set of Brent's cousins. It was here that I was first 'outed' as I continued to turn down alcoholic beverages that everyone else was partaking in. Being highly unusual behavior the cousins caught on pretty quickly. This trip ended in NOVA with a Dornin family reunion at Spring Garden and a trip to see the Nationals play (16). Our summer finished with an annual Nags Head trip with the Morris family (17). From here we decided we should probably stay home and focus on numbers 1- 9 again.


So that's the real story. I'm pleased to say that my mother, Nan Cross guessed the most accurately. (Granted, during all of 10 - 17 she had to keep numbers 9 and 5, so it is good that she knew where we were at those times.) Too bad for her that I can't award her the price since she already got a set of the new wine charms for Christmas. I think she will understand though, and hope that the fame of this prestigious award will be enough for her. 


This leads me to the creativity awards. A few entries had us rolling with laughter. 


Amanda Goyne has a creative approach. What she doesn't know she makes up, usually with something grossly inappropriate. In fact, I have scanned her email to find SOMETHING that I can post of her answers and am coming up with very little. 


I can include these parts, but please be aware, these aren't her entire statements. I still had to edit large chunks of writing:


3. Slippers or as we refer to them in the south, house shoes. I'm assuming this is to represent how insanely swollen and grotesque your feet are now, or will be very soon. Don't worry, they will go back to normal after you give birth...


5. One of your dogs, I don't recall the name right off, but soon you won't be able to either. Don't get me wrong, I'm not suggesting that your new human baby will replace your canine offspring; it's just that sleep deprivation does a number on your short term memory.


8. A can of green paint. Most likely this represents the blatant disregard most Americans have for our fragile environment and your life long mission to encourage friends and family to "go green". It's a little preachy for my taste, but it's your card you silly hippy you.


9. The other dog. Pansy or something


And that is it. The only four answers I can post on the Internet with a clear conscience. The rest I will save for blackmail when Amanda is interviewing for future guidance counseling jobs.


Dan and Lisa Mazzio combined to turn in a more accurate, but just as enjoyable post. More of their answers are post-able, but here are my favorites:


3. Ballet slippers because you teach ballet and also because those shoes allow you to move quietly around the house so that you dont interrupt Brent's Fresh Prince time.

8. This is for when you repainted upstairs and Steven helped you because he is required to work when he visits you.
9. This is Toeby with paint on his feet and tail because he is also required to help you with projects, only he is slightly less talented at it than Steven (slightly).

12. These are flip flops and they definitely say something. Lisa thinks they say MB... I said maybe M8 or MIB. I think its probably MIB - I am guessing those are the flip flops you bought to wear to the premiere of Men in Black 3. If not, well, thats ridiculous.

17. Ok so its possible that 11 was just because you like to go to the beach and that this one is for Emerald isle. Lisa also believes it is a surf board because Brent (Michael Westin) surfs whenever he is near the water - I don't necessarily agree.




Their confidence in the closing of their entry had me intrigued,

Damn you guys take alot of trips. The next year's Christmas card is gonna be bare comparatively. Lisa says next year the ornaments on the tree will be boobs, cribs and diapers. Can you go ahead and award us the win on next year's card now?

allowing us to make these final decisions:

Nan Cross, Most Accurate

Amanda Goyne, Most Creative

Dan and Lisa Mazzio, Automatic Winners for Next Year 

(although we'll still have the contest simply to increase daily page views to my website)

Morris Family Christmas Card, Decoded

To those of you who have ever wondered what the images in our Christmas Card mean, this contest is for you!

We have a lot of fun every year listing the events that occurred over the past year and determining how to show them in a Christmas Card. Lots of people ask what certain parts mean and what they represent. Steven Jones (genius!) had the idea to post the card on the blog and see how many of you can guess what each part of the card represents. The winner will receive a signed Christmas Card.... ok, just kidding. The winner will receive a set of Snowman Ornaments or Wine Charms (that won't be available again until July, you lucky dog!)

So here's how to play. Check out the card and guess as many items as you can. (To receive extra credit be as detailed as possible.) Send your list to me via email (rcmorris1@gmail.com) or through Facebook inbox. (Remember, if you post it as a comment on my blog or on my wall you will be giving away your answers!)


I'll announce the winner New Year's Eve! 

Contest Day Five (and Six)

I missed a day of blogging... obviously. I'm sorry to all of those who were at the edge of their seats waiting for the next step in the contest piece. I literally was so tied down to this piece the end of the week was spent stitching and occasionally eating.  The good news is it WAS completed, ON TIME, and has been turned in! I'm thrilled to have gotten it finished and am glad to have entered, regardless of what happens next. (Doesn't everybody always say that when it is obvious they want to win or they wouldn't have entered in the first place?) Anyway, I'll catch you up with the hand stitching before showing you the finished piece. No scrolling ahead.


I decided to be a little rough with the sand and water. I added some thread to the top of the work to give it a texture and give the appearance of not being so 'flat.' I also beaded the sand heavily, and did a little with the wave lines too.

The heron was my nemesis. I put him off because he terrified me. I didn't want to do photo transfer because I felt like it needed to be different from the background. I started by creating the body with fused fabrics.  I began to stitch over top of the fabric to create the detail of the heron.

And I hated it. SO, I ripped all of the stitching out on Friday, knowing I had to complete it Saturday, and decided to fall back on the outlining like I have done on other pieces. So after, not even kidding, an entire day of hand outlining I completed the heron and was much happier with the image. 

Finally I added the reeds and rocks at the bottom with a combination of fusing and embroidery and completed it with my "R." Luckily, my father built an awesome frame for me and while Brent painted it (yes, I am so spoiled!) I attached the backing and finished the piece! 

Contest Day Four

After four days of leaning over my work table I'm starting to do the old lady move where you use your hand to help raise your back as you stand. My hands are cramping, neck is stiff.... but all totally worth it because I am in love with this piece.


The photo transfers started pretty well. After the smooth practicing I decided to go for the real pieces... 6 gulls and 1 lighthouse. I cut every single (incredibly) tiny detail of each bird and then attached it to the fusing paper to be applied to the background. The first one went on with out a problem, and the second one did fine. I added the lighthouse and had a little snag where a small section of the photo stuck to the protective paper between it and the iron. I carefully detached the paper and the melted transfer was fine, barely noticeable. I should have stopped there, cause then this happened.

Yeah, really. The ink/transfer gummed up and came right off with the paper. There really was very little I could do at that point but continue to gently pull the paper off while ripping the wing with it. The bird had attached completely to the background, so I will have to peel the bird off the waves without ripping or damaging the fabric. I said a few words, took a step back and decided to attach the rest of the transfers with adhesive and then sew over them later.

Once all birds were attached it was necessary to attach the side borders so that the heron applique can be placed over both the background and border. I'm dreading the start of the heron, but peeling off the adhesive marks from the problem bird sounds awful too.... we'll see how it goes! 

Contest Day Three

In my defense, when you look at the progress made today it doesn't look like much.... BUT, all of it was time consuming and there was a lot of trial and error.  I started machine stitching the background, which is basically the only machine area, all other stitching will be by hand until it is complete. The machine stitching adds some texture and also stabilizes the fabrics.  The background is now complete until the birds and lighthouse are added.

So, onto the birds. I wanted to try using photo transfers for the seagulls, but I also wanted to be able to fuse them to the background. Both require ironing, but I had to practice with the different heat settings because one needs high heat and the other low, and I didn't want to burn off or melt the image. 

  


After that was settled I started creating the rocks that are fused fabrics. The next step will be to start attaching all the images to the background, but that won't be finished until late tonight... so the blogging will have to wait!

Day Two Continued

Background is done.... Started with the solid piece of sky fabric, then fused the strips of different blues and finished with the beach shades. 

The next step will working on all of the photo transfers, which I haven't really worked with before. I may do some research, or I'll just play and see what happens.  

Contest Day Two

This piece has been progressing nicely! There have been a few set-backs, that wouldn't have been a problem if time wasn't such an issue, but not enough to really delay the project. When I started picking out the fabrics I didn't have anything that I liked for the sky, so I had to put together a bleach bath. It isn't my favorite method, I don't really like using bleach, but it got the look I wanted. The process basically bleaches out the color, so I started with a medium colored blue fabric that was balled up using twine. (Colored strings can dye the fabric.)

This ball of fabric is plunged into boiling water so that the fibers are able to open and accept whatever dye, or reverse dye method you are using.  I allowed it to sit in the hot water for a couple minutes before adding the bleach.

The bleach works quickly so you have to be careful to not have too much of the color bleached out.  Once the fabric has reached the desired shade it is rinsed several times in cold water and then washed with a fabric soap. 

I haven't done this since college... and I may have missed a step or two, and I probably should have measured, or taken notes on amounts of time and materials. But I didn't. And probably won't next time either. I like the end result, which was the original goal:)  Back to work!

Contest Day One

This past spring I entered a local art contest due at the end of the month. At the time, I didn't realize that the month of June would be spent changing jobs, creating multiple nursery pieces and painting graduation caps. All good things, but busy! Now, I have one week and an entire artwork to create... so, to the phone calls, texts and facebook messages I ignore, I apologize. I promise to enter the world again once this is done. I'm afraid that the local beaches and pools will be a distraction this week, so I'm going to try to blog every morning showing the work from the previous day. Hopefully the pressure of daily posting will encourage me to work as quickly as possible! 

Here is the sketch of the wall hanging. There will be a lot of traditional fiber techniques, but I plan to use photo transfers for New Point Comfort Lighthouse and the seagulls.  (This was also an opportunity to play with my new camera.) I haven't done a lot with photo transfers but I am excited to start. The downside are the 400 seagull photos that I am about to start going through....

Unity

Congratulations to Lauren Mackey, the winner of the Name that Piece contest!!! 

Although there were lots of great entries, I liked Lauren's suggestion of Unity because it fit within the same theme of Solitude.  

I enjoyed hearing your suggestions and look forward to doing this again sometime! Lauren, I know you will be anxiously awaiting your prize...

Name that Piece Contest

I need help naming this one, and I’m counting on you.  This piece is the second in the “Sticks on the Beach” Series and I can’t think of a name that I like.  Starting tonight, anyone who has a name suggestion can send it to my Facebook inbox or my email.  I will stop taking suggestions Saturday morning. 

What’s in it for you? Other than the HUGE amount of fame that goes along with naming one of my pieces! Satisfaction knowing that you helped me out.  

So get busy and start naming… and then send them to me! You have until Saturday morning!