Ab Fab!

My fabric arrived from Spoonflower yesterday!!! Lisbeth's mandalas look superb as textile designs! I will be sewing napkins and table runners to put in Lisbeth's Etsy shop. Stay tuned!

Fabric Fun

Both my sister Deb and my daughter Kaitlyn just showed me these bed linens by Lilly Pulitzer for Garnet Hill (above), and commented on how similar these fabric designs are to the ones that I'm creating with Lisbeth's mandalas (below...)!!

Last week I ordered several yards of fabric from Spoonflower using these mandalas of Lisbeth's, which I colorized in Photoshop. I created a half-drop repeat pattern (you can see what that looks like in the top photo, on those long skinny pillows!), with the mandala itself measuring at about 7" in diameter...

I can't wait to get the fabric and start sewing with it! I plan to make napkins and tablecloths first. They will be so bright and springy!

Down and Out (Again)

Lisbeth is down with seizures again. And so it goes. At least there were no big long seizures this time. But she is in the postictal fog and on these days she behaves alot like someone with Autism: she is non-verbal for a while, and does the same things over and over, like trotting back and forth, and clapping and snapping her fingers. When she gets a little clearer she repeats phrases, and asks for the same foods - chadder cheese (Lis-ism) and vanilla ice cream. She also craves eggs and peanut butter during these times of recuperation. This is interesting, because these are the high fat foods found in the Ketogenic Diet that is used to treat certain seizure disorders.

Here are a few shirts that we just listed on Lisbeth's Etsy store, her Big Heart mandala in a couple of new spring colors - a Robin's egg blue, and a soft teal green! Pretty! This mandala reminds me of the Pennsylvania Dutch Hex signs. (Hmmmm, now that would be another cool way to use Lisbeth's designs - on painted wooden signs!)

Not the Right Way of It

A Disgruntled Customer.

We invited Lisbeth and her helper, Katie, to have dinner with us on Saturday night. Garry planned to BBQ a pork loin, and was busy prepping the vegetables to go with it. I asked Lisbeth if she would sit for a portrait while we waited for Dad to finish fixing our supper, and she agreed. She started off with a smile, but soon noticed the unconventional colors I was using to draw her hair...

"Mom, my hair's not green!!!"

(Whoo, boy. Bad idea.)

So we promptly stopped that activity and went to the kitchen to see how Dad was doing. Lisbeth did not like the sounds of the menu, and complained openly. "That's the gross food!" She had it in mind that she wanted to go out to eat, so we said, "Lis, it's your choice - you can stay and eat with us, or Katie can take you out. You have your own money to do that if you want to." She opted to go eat The Chinese Food with Katie, and away they went! Garry and I laughed and had a quiet dinner together, enjoying the feeling of being spurned by a grumpy teenager. It felt so normal...

Sign of Spring

Lisbeth and I ran a couple of errands yesterday and she noticed that Dairy Queen was open - a sure sign of spring around these parts! So of course we each had to partake of a small hot fudge sundae with lots of peanuts. And when we got back to Lis's house, we found Little Milkweed waiting with a rainbow on her head...

So glad that Lisbeth is having a good stretch! Have a peaceful weekend!

A Peaceful Few Days

Lisbeth has been enjoying a seizure free patch. Glad of it. Thankyou for all your well wishes!
I was a huge Carl Larsson fan back in the 70's and 80's (still love his paintings...) and this painting of his daughter, Lisbeth Fishing, is what inspired me to name my daughter Lisbeth in 1981.