2013

I have an aversion to "Year in Review" things

they give me a sort of melancholy feeling

but here I am doing a year in review

-ha-

it is actually very empowering

I'm quite surprised that I was able to squeeze as much life out of 2013 as I did

*

goodbye 2013 it's been One Fine Year

kitchen table

... in the last 3 days, we've completed two 1000 piece jigsaw puzzles and have moved on to board games ... this mom is loving the way the kitchen table is usurping iPods, iPads, iPhones, and Kindle Fires. Pretty cool how some things never change.

from my sky

to your sky ... Merry Christmas

almost taking time

 ... for tea ...

While chopping potatoes, I was struck by the simple beauty of this still life. It's been a hectic couple of weeks - but a joyful sort of hectic. I'm making potato leek soup for tonight's dinner and tomorrow's lunch. A sensible choice amid the still long to-do list. To do: laundry, beds, floors, dogs, sheets, towels ... and what doesn't get done surely won't mind waiting. I'll finish my chopping, my tea, this post, and pick up where I left off.

Merry Christmas to you and your dear ones. 

Take time for tea and kisses.

yummy goodness

yesterday, I got together with my two moms to make Christmas cookies

we made french shortbread, brownies, spritz cookies

snowballs, rugelach, macaroons, palmiers, and I forget what all else

- get ready for the cravings to sweep over you -

spritz cookies:

macaroons:

rugelach:

still to make:

gingerbread boys and chocolate crinkles

maybe tomorrow?

quilted goodness

I have some more vintage quilted goodies to show you

the first one is from the blue and white Ohio Star quilt I used for the little heart ornaments

it's a tree topper star to replace the Barbie-esque angel from China:

and with a mint green and white pinwheel quilt 

(which is in pretty good shape except for one edge which I had to cut off)

I made these embroidery hoop ornaments:

(the ornaments are in my Etsy shop Christmas section)

I'm off to go make Christmas cookies today

it's a real production

I'll show you some Yummy Goodness tomorrow 

:)

saving some green

I forego the luscious evergreen wreaths every year.

Originally, I was motivated by pinching pennies.

But once I learned about evergreen poaching, 

it's super easy to turn up my nose and glide right past them in the market.

this year I snipped some holly and cedar from our own trees in the backyard

I stuck them in some woolen mittens - tied on a red ribbon accent - and there you have it

guilt free

and lest you think I have it all together over here

- I'll show you my whole porch -

rotting and frozen pumpkins and all

a poem

When Sun is sleeping in,

a short timer before the layoff,

Frost is busy with busy work.

Warding off The Pink Slip,

Frost shoots off a memo to the Night.

His memo is clearly CYA, 

"Have you seen the things Frost has touched? The lovely work he has done? 

Unsurpassed by anyone else, particularly the Sun.'"

And HR takes note of his industry,

recommending that Frost be retained:

"Negotiate a lower wage,

may I suggest an increase in hours?

The pretty work that once required many,

is now being done by one."

*

I am fully intending to blog here more frequently, lest I become a short timer myself

here's to fresh starts and all that

waiting

this is what I saw out my car window while waiting for school to get out:

it looks like winter

trust

I was working on  this postcard sized piece of art and just getting more and more frustrated ... Overthinking things as usual ... Then I looked over to my little seashell of odd tea bag tags and found "trust creates peace." I draped the string and tag over the spot that was pestering me the most. Suddenly there was peace in this peace.

thankful - salamat

after having painted and sent out 34 stones this week

I am able to donate $170 to ShelterBox USA

... I have many stones left ...

you may participate in this effort with me HERE

***

After further research and consideration, I have decided to designate future donations to be made to the organization Doctors Without Borders. My reasoning is that in the coming months this terrible event will evolve into a major health crisis (much as it did in Haiti). In developing nations, care for the sick and injured is already a precarious enterprise - and a disaster like this one easily topples whatever basic system was in place.

thank you - salamat - for joining with me

Philippine Relief

overwhelmed by the images of the devastation from Typhoon Haiyan,

I took my desire to help to my work desk.

When things like this happen, we want to help.

my thoughts of the Filipino people go immediately to the most basic of human needs:

food, water and shelter

but I also think of:

calm after the storm

peace in the midst of chaos

trust when life is achingly uncertain

quiet in the clamor of confusion

hope when children are looking up to you

love that survives the very worst in life

each piece of beach glass has a Filipino word on one side 

and the corresponding English word on the reverse

they are available in my Etsy shop for $5 each and 100% will be donated to

ShelterBox USA

a reputable 501(c) organization I supported after the Japanese Tsunami in March 2011

I plan to paint at least 200 of these

and will have a weekly update of the funds raised - by you and me together - right here on my blog

color therapy

I uploaded these pictures this morning

the colors had me positively enraptured - I had to grab my camera to share it with you all

and here is this afternoon's work using that same watercolor sheet:

these are my two favorites:

(perhaps because there are faces in them)

thank you Kim at Queen of Arts for your inspiration in finding creatures and faces within splashes of color - I have borrowed your technique - and knowing your grace generosity, you are ok with that 

journal therapy

brooching

brooching definition:

busy making brooches

that was me today

... until I put on my "mom on the run" hat

now I have a song stuck in my head:

stuck inside these four walls

sent inside forever

never seeing no one, nice again,

like you, mama

you, mama, you

if I ever get out of here

thought of giving it all away

to a registered charity

all I need is a pint a day

if I ever get out of here

if I ever get out of here

-P McCartney Band on the Run

why

why do people leave stuff like this at the curb?

in the rain?

lady chair

... the beginnings of a new photo series on my iPhone ...

the family room

1990 tv room

free love seat

I have learned that using the zoom on the iPhone gives you terrible pixelation

I'm going to have to get out of my car and get up close for these

... will someone think I want this crap?

something I saw today

early november

the last of the autumn leaves are blowing off the trees today

here's one I caught in mid-air 

(look in the upper right)

 they're all caught in the vegetable patch

it seems like a good day to be at my work desk

I'm still making things with my grandmother's tattered quilt

(see earlier post here)

these are brooches for my Etsy shop made with glass and soldered copper

***

I've been a missing in action blogger - birthdays,  school conferences, band concerts, halloween

we all slept in this morning and most of us are still in our jammies

and the candy isn't helping

(I have a pile of snicker bars keeping me company as I type this)

hoping for a boring week ahead 

:)

ghost flowers

 the hydrangeas are slowly disintegrating

leaving behind a lovely lacework of their former glory

I had to snip a few and bring them in

ghost flowers - not your everyday halloween decoration

beyond repair

I have some beautiful old quilts that were my grandmother's

but this one is in a very sad state of disrepair

an old *Ohio Star quilt - it was obviously VERY well loved

but a "cutter" now

oh it was hard!

... then I had an idea ...

I'll make heart ornaments for all of my cousins

it will be fun to slip a heart into a Christmas Card and include a note about the old quilt

we'll all have a piece of history that connects us to one another

*the Ohio Star quilt originated in the mid 1800's and experienced a huge revival in the 1930's. It is a favorite pattern for scrap quilting and many thrifty households in the depression era used feed sacks, shirts, sheets, dresses, etc as resources for their scrap quilts

mend and make do

 my favorite light weight sweater had bleach spots on it

have you done that before?

so I patched over the spots with wool felt shapes

 (they were leftover from a christmas project last year)

they make great patches!

the bleach spots were at kitchen counter height

I must have been bleaching the counters and splashed it on myself

sheesh

it turned out pretty cute

maybe even an improvement over my old faded sweater

***

my girls have been watching netflix re-runs of "what not to wear"

I think clinton and stacy would not approve

... ask me if I care ...

***

how did I make the flower shapes?

cookie cutters were used as templates

what were the flowers originally used for last christmas?

I was making hair clips for my girls

just layer the shapes like I did here, 

stitch them with embroidery thread,

 attach them to big bobby pins

cute!

split personality day

morning was foggy

and cold

I really bundled up for my morning walk 

and afternoon is brilliant

and warm

 do I have to say which one I like best?