That’s what I keep telling myself. Reminding myself that THESE ARE the beautiful days that I’ll look back on and long for when I’m older and tending to 50 cats. I know I’ll miss them then, and I want to make sure I don’t miss them now! So that was my inspiration for this little love-birds mobile I am teaching at the Sweet Six Studiotoday. Thought I’d show you too!
Hey, sorry for being AWOL lately, but just bear with me! I’m a bit (more like completely!) overwhelmed right now. A BAZILLION wonderful things going on, and I’m grateful for the fulness of my life, but it’s about as full as it can be right now. Just give me a week to catch my breath and get some things done and I’ll be back to blogging regularly. I just have to get some stuff DONE, you know? Just be DONE! ha ha…
I will, however, take a break from my chaos this week and enjoy The Office season premier! WOO HOO! If you have not seen it, RENT IT! It’s the best show. EVER. Oh, Jim Halpert, how I love you… and Pam… and Dwight and Angela (or maybe Mrs. Andrew Bernard?!)…. and who can’t love Micheal? I can’t wait to see what’s up with Oscar and Kevin, and of course Phylis (And Bob Vance, of Vance Refrigeration). And is Ryan in prison? Oh, and Daryl.. love him. Poor guy dating the most irritating customer service rep ever, Kelly! Then we can’t forget Creed, Stanley, Jan, and Meredith! Don’t you wish you worked there? ha ha…..
Of course, this is not my photo, it’s the property of The Office, which, unfortunately, I am in no way associated with. But I’m glad to advertise because this show rocks. And yes, I know Jim is fictional. Shutup.
See you soon with a whole new look for my humble little website. Which is my real office, here at my computer in my living room. My co-workers demand chocolate milk and need help peeing, so I guess it IS kinda like The Office!
I don’t usually do this, but oh my goodness. Have you ever seen anything so darling? I seriously want to buy about 20 of these and hang them all over my house this Christmas. Heather, of Pretty Petals Boutique, is making these and they’re only $4.99 each! This is her photo, not mine. Her photography is always so gorgeous. You can buy them HEREif there are any left!
Just thought I’d give you a peek at what I’m teaching at the Online Art Retreat tomorrow. They’re embellished photo boards and I LOVE them. SO much fun to make. I hope to see you there! I’ll be manning the email and comments all day, so I hope you’ll come say hello. If you have not signed up for the Sweet Six Studio, you’re just in time to join us for this fun project. Come on over and sign up!
And I know we can help. Have you heard about this beautiful family? I did not know of them before I read about their terrible accident a few days ago on Today’s Creative Blog. Kim told us about the tragic accident that has left the father of four burned on at least 30 % of his body, and his beautiful wife and loving mother burned on 80 % of her body. The same body that cared for her four sweet children through the sleepless nights of infancy, the same body that held them on her hip and rocked them to sleep at night, the same body that fed and bathed them. Her body is so terribly burned. She’s already gone through several surgeries. I can’t even imagine the pain and cost of all of this. They need prayer and all the help we can give.
But we don’t have to feel helpless, my friends, I have good news. We can help! Kim is having an auction with all the proceeds to be given to the family to help with the staggering costs. I have donated three things to this auction. My Sweet Six Studio pals will recognize the first two, they are the class samples of my first project (which I’m teaching on Wednesday, by the way). Here they are again, in case you missed it:
The first one is “bleu belle” and is a double picture photo-board made from a game board that I’ve covered and collaged with vintage wallpaper and a a vintage velvet millinery flower and bit of ribbon. I love the color combo here and the papers are just gorgeous. That blue is so delicious! I also love anything sentimental (as you know!) so I know you will appreciate being able to put your own loved-one’s photos in and enjoy them. I’ve shown it here with pictures of some of my loved ones, to give you an idea.
The second is called “apron strings”. Now, I LOVE this one. I actually was going to keep it, but this morning in church, the sermon was about letting go of our ‘treasures’ and using our gifts to help others, which is of course where the true treasure lies, isn’t it? Hmm…. so, I felt led to let go and to include this one too. Just the name itself is indicitive of motherhood, isn’t it? And what better way to honor this mother and father and the fight they are fighting than with something that is sentimental to me as a mother. It actually is embellished with beautiful lace-edged apron ties from a vintage linen apron. Also embellished with millinery and ribbon, and a rhinestone brooch in the middle of the flower. I actually changed the flower on the bottom AFTER I took this picture, but it’s very similar and just as pretty. Just thought it worth mentioning that the bottom bit of millinery is slightly different. The paper is beautiful. I love it.
Thirdly, I made a pair of earrings for the auction. These are made with vintage Swarovski crystal drops in a bezel setting that looks like probably brass with a bit of a patina. They are wire wrapped with oxidized sterling silver wire to a tiny little rhinestone disco ball and then to the oxidized sterling silver ear wires. The color of the drops is gorgeous. I can’t even tell you how lovely they are. They sparkle without being too blingy, and they are such a lovely shade.
I hope you like my things, but mainly because I hope you bid on them. If you don’t like my stuff, that’s OK too! You can bid on lots of other fun, funky, cool, beautiful things, or you can simply make a donation without bidding. And if you can’t do any of those things, consider donating the proceeds of something you make or sell. And if you can’t do anything monetary, then donate your time and pray your heart out for this family. I know many of you are mothers, and all of you have a mother! Remember that incredible over-the-moon love that you have for your mother as a little child? Nothing can replace her and the thought of losing her is unbearable. No love comes close to the love of a child for a parent, except of course for the all-encompassing love of a parent for a child. It’s funny how it works that way. God knows what he’s doing, doesn’t he?
Thank you all for taking the time to read my blog today, and I hope you’ll click on the links above. I promise to pack these up beautifully and include some extra goodies. If you want to give them as a gift, I’ll even gift-wrap them for you! Just go bid your heart out.
Today is the day for our Online Art Retreat! If you would like to join, just come on over! I’m very excited to see all the beautiful things everyone makes. I think there are something like 135 people signed up! I’m thrilled and humbled to see that there are so many like-hearted girls out there. We are striving to make sure the Studio is a friendly, fun place, is always warm and welcoming, and of course full of fun and fabulous projects and ideas The photo above is just a little peek at my second project that I’ll be doing. I can’t wait!
Just to tempt you a bit more, here a couple of photos of some of the other projects that I’ll be making along with you.
These embellished lanterns are the lovely Heather Kowalski. Are these gorgeous or what?! I love everything Heather ever does, it’s always sentimental and sweet, and has a sense of grace, which is exactly who Heather is. She is kind and gentle, smart and strong, and I adore her. Her personality is definitely translated to her beautiful work. I can’t wait to make these! My party store carries these paper lanterns, but I think I want to make one with my kids too, so I may even use an oatmeal container! I think it will be easy for them to glue the star wars cutouts on! (boys….oh, how i love my boys, but it would be so nice to have another female in this house!) Now, for mine, it’s all about bits and pieces, velvet ribbons and whatever other little baubles I can come up with.
The last full reveal is from the dear Cheryl Dack. Is this amazing!? How fun would this be for a tooth-fairy pocket?! Or just for leaving sweet little notes for your little one, or a million other endearing things. It’s a hanging pillow pocket, just the cutest idea. Everything Cheryl does is so sweet and has a certain nostalgic feel that harkens back to sweeter, simpler times. Cheryl is so full of love for everyone, always the nurturer. Once again, her love of motherhood always comes through in her work.
I think that’s a commonality in all 6 of us, the love of family. I know that your family is the driving force in your life too, which is why I’m so excited to be sharing the experience of making these sentimental and beautiful projects with you!
OK, I’ll be back tomorrow with our regularly scheduled programming! I have some fun pictures of things from my last flea market jaunt, including my new dress form! She’s so cute. Gotta think of a name for her. Hmmmm…
Also, very soon you’ll be seeing a new look here! My brilliant, handsome, smart, strong, hunky, gorgeous, intelligent (are you reading this, honey?) husband is working on my new look now. I’m SO excited. We’ve completely redesigned everything; new banner, new look, new layout, new everything. You won’t even recognize me! But then again, I think you will, because it’s so ME. I drew the banner from scratch and picked everything from the colors to the fonts, so I’m so excited for you to see. I’ll let you know when it will be done and I’ll be having a fun give-away to celebrate.
