Such Great Friends!!

My sweet friends are so great!

When Olive was born so many of them were kind enough to remember our family at this special time by sending gifts. Katherine said, "Mom your friends are so great!", and it's true!!

Some of  them used their talents to make handmade gifts...

Kathy's bibs....

and her quilt.

Andrea's birth sampler

Sue's nursing cover

Jackie's crocheted sweater

 Receiving these precious handmade items made me wonder if  I could come up with a baby gift for a  boy or girl that I could make when my friends have grandbabies. I can crochet but only the VERY basic of projects. I can sew but nothing worthy of gift giving. I can garden but can't imagine giving a vegetable as a gift.

(Although I did work in Katherine and Collin's garden the week I stayed with them for Olive's birth. Katherine recently sent me this picture of Olive with a cucumber planted that week. I tried picturing the cucumber with a pink or blue bow on it and placed in a gift bag, but decided to return to the drawing board.)

Of course I turned to Pinterest where I found several great ideas for easy painting projects for new babies. Here's my first effort done for Jackie's grandson, Gabriel. It was lots of fun! Here are the simple instructions in case you want to try.

Start with a 18 x 24 inch canvas painted pale blue with ordinary craft acrylics.
It took three coats.

Now use a darker blue paint mixed with glazing medium for  glossy, semitransparent stripes.

This is an awesome product.

Now sketch a whale pattern to cut out of paper and traced onto the canvas.
You can always find an image online.

I used grey paint mixed with a heavy gel medium just for a wet, raised look on the whale.
Different textures make things interesting.

I painted the whale with a brush first, then used pallet knives to spread the thick mixture. This took about 18 hours to dry completely.  Then I added white highlights with glossy paint.

Wording, outlines, and done!!
Happy new grandson, Jackie!!!

Love ya'll,

Shelli

A loyal friend laughs at your jokes when they’re not so good, and sympathizes with your problems when they’re not so bad.

 ~Arnold H. Glasgow

Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art.... It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things that give value to survival.

 ~C.S. Lewis

Nothing but heaven itself is better than a friend who is really a friend. 

~Plautus