Tafter Time

So......I am back home in St. Louis after spending a sweet week with Keresa, Stephen...and Taft. That wonderful little boy has changed so much in the past 6 weeks. Last time I saw him he was not even sitting up and just beginning to try mashed bananas......now he is sitting up, bouncing, beginning to crawl, and eating just about any kind of food you can imagine. ....(mashed up of course)

 He loves his dog Mick and bathtime..............


And Grampa's eyeglasses were very interesting , but not so yummy......

 

Mostly it was just fun watching this little guy, spending time together, and loving on him....We are so blessed.

How can you not love this sweet face.....I loved having Tafter Time......Happy Grammy

Teaching Zaina

So....this past week I had the honor and new experience of teaching Zaina, a 9 year old girl.....the art of "Mural Painting"

Her dad hired me to be her teacher. First off, I applaud him for being willing to let his daughter express herself with paint on her bedroom walls. What a cool dad to realize it is only paint. He wanted to let his daughter have the freedom to do whatever.

That is where I came in. My job was to guide her and coach her a bit in the "ART" of painting on walls.

Zaina wanted to paint Mermaids....not my first choice, but it was her room and her ideas. We added sparkling gems stones gluing them on the mermaids to make necklaces and earrings. Glitter paint was added to the mermaid tails.

I surprised myself by letting her have the freedom to learn without me wanting to take control..... She ended up doing a great job......except for one of my  $10 paint brushes that she forgot to clean....... it is still soaking in rubbing alcohol with the hopes of a rescue.

Her stamina was only about 2 hours a day.....and I usually paint 5 or 6 hours a day..so the hard part was having to go back and forth for 5 days.....but the end results and the joy in Zaina's eyes ended up being worth it....I will let the photos tell the rest of the story....

My new little friend and fellow artist.......ZAINA

My Mural Website....Whimsies, Walls, and Words.....

So for the last month I have been working on updating my 2 year old website. I had so many new photos of murals I have been painting. My old website looked rather empty. Time for an Extreme Make Over.....

There were lots of bumps in the road, mistakes, and I still have a long way to go in climbing the Great Google Search Engines so that I can be found easily......but I am pleased with the final look. I like the name Whimsies, Walls, and Words, but know that nobody will ever find me by that name. So I am who I am.......

http:www.karenheysemurals.com

Look it over and let me know what you think. I even got to add the video of my debut on Show Me St. Louis. Hopefully that will be a nice addition to the website. Here are a few photos from my most recent jobs.

This was a fun project in a little girls Playroom!

 

Then I never thought I would ever really enjoy painting Sesame Street Characters, but I was pleased with how this turned out !!

Then I got to create a fun Princess Room for another little girl.........

A little boy wanted a Construction Room.....so that was created. His Grandpa loves old planes, so we added a bi-wing plane in the sky

I am having fun !

My Sweet Boy Taft

...so as a new Grammy, I don't get to see my new little Grandson Taft William nearly as much as I would love to because there is 300 miles between us. Thankfully there is the world of iPhones and emails. I am so glad for that because it gives me my Taft fix. Not the same as a sweet hugging moment, but better than nothing !

Grow old with me.....the best is yet to be

Tom and I were friends for 3 years before we discovered we were in love. It was just what we both needed. I have now been married for 34 years to the most incredible person. Tom is my best friend, my soul mate, my balance keeper, an awesome dad....He's my hero.....