Red Hat Fun and a New Book

So, I told you I go to red hat functions with my mommy because it's a fun way to spend time with her.

Today we had the Halloween party we've got to together for the past few years.  I took a few pictures, but perhaps far too few, I should have taken more, but the ones I did take are a little fun.  The first picture I'll share is of one of the winners, she won the category most likely to scare the dog, it was great, she even had a stick broom.  Her costume was complete with a corset which was awesome, and I might have to contact her to find out how she ordered since it wasn't for someone super thin, which was totally cool.  I won't say names since I'm not sure people would be ok with that, and also I don't know the names of all.

Next to her is my mom's bestie, and partner in hilarity....I told her before that I should follow them around and do a vlog on their misadventures because they get into some funny situations.  Like last year, when her friend pulled the tab on one of the speaking dolls, so mom had to buy it, and everyone liked it so much and thought it was so funny that ppl in the store were calling other states to tell their family and friends about this doll.  Needless to say, it was a seasonal favorite last Christmas, and the stores kept selling out.  She won for cutest costume in her pirate getup, and behind our table you see more witches and also a sandra dee.....or bobby soxer complete with saddle shoes and lavender poodle on her skirt, very cute.  The next picture I tried to get all the ladies that came, or at least the ones that were there at the time.

Mom didn't turn around, so you get to see the lovely back of her head, and sort of see some of the other winners, such as the supergirl.  But the next picture will either frighten you, or make you laugh so hard, it's the lady that won best overall costume, which I thought was brave of her, and also it reminded me of the things Carol Burnett used to wear.  Just remembering her cracked me up, not to mention the story of her grandson being sent a picture of it by his mom, and his response being a simple JESUS!!!  Enjoy!  I didn't get a picture of the clever homemade costume of the lady that came as one of the barbie heads.....you know the ones little girls get that they can make up, and curl/cut/style etc. complete with a table of the needed barbie styling items to play with your barbie bust.

Loooove the tassels.  Very stylish for any lady.  I did win a few prizes with bingo, and I figured what the heck I'll post those too.  I always ask mom what she wants cause I try and give them to her, but she never takes them LOL.

I thought the wallet was great, my phone even fits in there!

Anyway, I also thought I'd share some more new books, I have all the Millie Marotta ones.  The next picture is from her Animal Kingdom book.  I'll do the other two books next, maybe one at a time, because some of her pictures are detail intense and the details can tend to the small side so a little tricky to fill in.  The one for today is a very elaborate octopus, and I did enjoy coloring this one.  I hope you enjoy seeing it.

As always, it's my pleasure to share and I look forward to your responses and sharing!!!

Red Hat Book

My mom and sister are both Red Hatters.

I'm a pink hatter, but for me it's more about spending time with my mom than it is about support of the Red Hat organization, although I do advocate what they stand for.  My mom and sister have taken vacations together now for years along with their husbands, and I have to say, I'm glad that they do, because then I know that everything should be ok and that they will have fun.  Mom and my sister just went to the Red Hat convention in Texas this year, they go every year, but the locations change.

This year, when they got back, my sister brought me a coloring book created by one of the other Red Hatters, and I will provide the information about it here, because if you are a Red Hatter, or support their vision, you might like to look it up and contact the creator to get one for yourself or a loved one.  The creator does have a blog which is included on the info page, and I'm sure there is a way to contact them via their blog.

Hopefully you enjoy today's entry, and also hope that it helps people interested, to learn more about Red Hat!

Flower

So last entry I had a sort of kaleidoscope, and this entry is similar, but is much more like a flower.

This was not as intensely detailed as some of Ms. Marotta's art, and so I was able to finish this with a little more speed than some, but I always take my time, and try to enjoy my time with any piece I complete.  This piece was a little more difficult to enjoy because I had hit a bit of a depression, and my anxiety, worry etc was a little in overdrive.  It doesn't help that I'm horrible at remembering to take my anxiety pills when I'm supposed to each morning and afternoon and night.  My pill minder helps a bit, at least to remember the night time medications, but the morning ones, I tend to forget as I'm just waking up, but I do my best not to get mad at myself the times I do forget.

My anxiety has also taken on a life all it's own, and I now get nauseas if I got places that are crowded, and have other issues afterwards as well, but I try my best to be in my own bubble when I do have to be around other people and block the crowds out.  Sometimes I'm a little better with it than other times, but I always try to make trips short and at odd times of the day to also help with this.

At any rate, I continue to pour myself into coloring to try and help with my personal calming tools, to keep me as anxiety free as I can.  I hope you enjoy the flower, I tried to do gradations of color, but one specific part annoyed me because I'd used two different reds and yet when they were on paper, it was too close to be noticeable.

I always hope that others will share their art also, and look forward to the time they do, until then enjoy, and I hope you get the most out of your art!

Kaleidoscope

This picture is just so fun, it reminds me of the kaleidoscopes we had when I was little.

It was always fun to turn the view and see all the different shapes that took place inside.  No two were ever the same.  It was a magical world of shapes inside a little colorful cardboard tube.  What in reality was probably just colorful bits of plastic and a mirror to complete a miriad of shapes.  A world full of colorful snowflakes, flowers, or whatever else your imagination saw for you, is mirrored in this next entry from Ms. Marotta.

As always, I at times set my coloring aside to be able to do things that need getting done, but there are sometimes when I cling to my books and pencils because life just feels like a big tiltawhirl and I'm struggling just to keep my brain in tact.  While I was working on this project, I noted that there were days between my last project and this, and also there were days where even my spirit was too sunken to reach for those beloved colors.  The days I depended on my friends and my therapy, I found myself far more relaxed, if not fully happy with the world and all the events within it.

I do find that it's odd to me, to see that there are even days when I can not bring myself to color, as if it's too cheerful an activity for the mood, or as if I feel, perhaps that I don't deserve the relief of coloring.  I'm not sure which it is right now, but as I find this to be the case, I think I will stop, take the time to reflect inwards to try and see if I can pinpoint the where or why I can not bring myself to take part in one of my favorite activities.

Without further ado, I bring you the kaleidoscope.

I'm not sure if that's what she was going for as she created this piece, but it's what I see.......how about you?

Birds in Paradise

Not really in the mood to blog, but meh, here's the latest addition.

From Ms. Marotta's book, it's a two page entry of birds of paradise in flight.  Once again she's done a wonderful job of adding things in a whimsical and beautiful way, though it really brought me no pleasure to color this, I tried to patiently sit and watch it take form.  I had told the doctor not to up or add any more meds because I'm bottoming out as far as my bp goes, when I'm taking it I'm about 117/70 ish, and after meds it's dropping to at least 107ish......

I'm still waiting on decisions that were supposed to take one to two months, and it's now past on that venue, and the other which could take up to a year, so working on year 5 of that venue.  One day everything will be done and settled, today is not that day.

Once again, I hope you all get all you should from coloring, and I look forward to seeing your work.