And it passes on

Bella to the left, Gianna to the right

I am the coolest great grandma ever. According to the girls above. Gianna told me I am an amazing artist, and Bella wanted to know why I didn't live closer so they could do this every single day.

We started out cutting down some watercolor paper I don't care for into 3x5 pieces. I explained that they could do whatever they wanted, but they were to decorate the paper and we would then glue it to the front of a plain card. Yes, there were envelopes. I set out an old watercolor palette with some Reeve's gouache, and a few Daniel Smith colors on it, gave them cheap brushes, and used my water mister to activate the colors. Then I left the room.

When I checked on them 30 minutes later, the palette was floating in water because that pink topped mister is just too cool, grandma Linda. The pad of paper I had left out was now down to just a few sheets of paper, and there were drying projects all over. We added colored pencils. Could I please start a face for Bella? Sure. Again, I left.

That night they cleaned the studio without being told. Used a roll of paper towels and 2 packages of baby wipes that were on the table. Refilled that pretty pink water mister twice.

By Saturday morning, I was down almost 3 pads of paper, several bottles of new Tim Holtz Distress paint, a bunch of craft paint, the paper cutter blade was dull, and in the process of cleaning they reorganized my table. Oh, Washi Tape was just too cool. See above. This is okay, right Grandma?

I did not take them shopping. I did not pay for movie tickets because I have Netflix, and they did watch that. Grandma Tammie took them to the Children's Museum, and they enjoyed it, but Grandma Tammie was ready to leave. We attended a free event in Danville on Friday night, to watch the lighting of the tree. There were bouncy thingies set up for the kids, free cookie decorating, and Santa. But the take away from this weekend was Great Grandma's art studio.

The two beautiful little girls above have been through hell and back with a drug addicted alcoholic mother. They live with their father in as close as normalcy as he can make it. Within an hour after they left on Saturday, I went to Michael's for Black Friday savings. They are both getting art supplies for Christmas, including paper, and a container to hold it all. I am decorating each container with their name, so they can have a private stash.

I will say this one more time: ART SAVES.
Linda