Roses: Valentine Wishes

Happy Valentines Day to all my friends.:) 

 Thanks for the well wishes.  I feel much better this morning and hoping it lasts.  I can't wait to peruse the last few day of posts on my favorite blogs.  Well, I really, really wanted to make some Valentines this year.  If I get some made they WILL be late.  Ellory and I will be making candy today and Ryan made fudge for his girlfriend which is packed up right now with some other little gifts to send off.  AND... some packages are going out to England and FLorida...hint, hint.  And few others in the works... not quite packed up.  It felt good to pack up some stuff. 

  Oh, and some flowers arrived yesterday from my traveling  hubby.  Thanks for the sweetness Tim!  It really brightened our day.  Ellory received the candy heart bouquet and I got the beautiful topiary arrangement.  My pics don't do them justice.  AND speaking of Valentines... please check out "Small Stories Studio" (link is right of this post) for some of the most beautiful Valentine inspired gifts I have ever seen.  I own a few of her pieces and they are AMAZING.. please treat yourself to one, you won't be sorry!:)

  Oh, and Ethan got some balloons which he is crazy about.  I also bought him some plastic Easter eggs and put them in a cartoon.  They are a big hit.  I usually let him "help" in the kitchen.  Yesterday, I had the eggs a little too close to the edge of the counter.  He preceded to "help" by cracking an egg on the floor then ran off with another!  What a mess.  Oh, and the other pictures of Ethan are of the little guy sneaking onto the dining room table with his other "favorite" toy,  a microphone... he LOVES singing!!  

 OH, and thanks to Ruth for the homemade Valentine and lovely linen embroidery and directions from 1965.  It is "started" with some stitches ... can't wait to do something with that.I will post some pics when I create something with it!:)  Oh, and the blue collage picture on this post is almost finished with the help of Ruth.  She suggested I add a "thread" nest and make the girl stick out more.  I added some backings to a few things and really like the way it turned out.  I am not quite finished as I would like to add a little message tucked in the nest.  Thanks again Ruth! 

 Thanks again to all my blogging friends who constantly brighten my day! :) A BIG Valentine hug.:)

"Under the Weather"

I haven't felt up to much the last few days, but hopefully by tomorrow I will have some energy to visit blogs and post!!!:)  Missing Blogland!

Roses: Birthday Boys

I am REALLY behind on posting here.  The good news is...Ethan is FINALLY, after 17 LONG months taking a nap.  People who know me know that Ryan was a 15 minute "catnapper" until one magical day he started taking a 3 hour nap! For Ryan, thankfully, he started napping at around 14 months, which was a blessing since I was pregnant with Ellory and all alone in upstate NY with no help.  Now Ethan at 17 months, has started taking 3+ hour naps in the last few days.  I am getting my house back, I am starting to get caught up on my wash AND I was able to work on TWO pieces today...  AND had a wonderful visit with my "kindred friend" Ruth!! She is an amazingly talented quilter, designer and always gives me that "shot in the arm" when I am about ready to give up! I am going to have to blog more about Ruth in the future AND her Grandma who was an amazingly creative woman.  I am very BLESSED that Ruth and her mum have given me many snippets of her Grandmas vintage trims collection,  among many other little wonderful baubles!:)  I had a blast today and the time went way too fast.  I am sad that we only get to see each other every few months!

AND a very Happy (belated) birthday to my son Ryan who turned 17 on Jan. 25th, To his best friend Keegan who had his "sweet 16" on the same day(right in picture) ... .and to my little guy who turned 17 months old on the same day!  AND I know this may seem weird to some, but Tim's grandma passed away on the same day a few years before Ryan was born.  She was really into numerology so numbers were a huge symbol to her and a big part of her life.  I find it comforting because she  really wanted us to have a baby.  I feel like somehow she is still "looking down"  our family.:)  

Well, I have a few pieces in progress.  I still have work to do but wanted to post a little peek.  Also, I am thinking about making some dolls in the near future as well. who knows??  We'll see if the naps continue......:)

Dolly Dreaming

I haven't had time to do any creating lately.  I HAVE been purging a lot of my stuff.... getting ready to send to the thrift pile.  I just don't have room both physically and mentally to keep EVERYTHING anymore.  So I am going through all my stuff and keeping only what tugs at my heartstrings.  I would love to get back into doll making again.  It's been a long time.....as I look through some of my pictures from the last five years,  I realize that I really miss fabric.  I struggle with asthma and had to pretty much pack up A LOT of my favorite books (vintage collection), most of my fabric dolls and fabrics,  and totally change the way I decorate.   I spent too much time in the basement the last two days and I feel the lungs struggling a little.  That being said, I think that if I limit my fabric collection and stay out of the basement, i will be OK, not perfect, but I never feel perfect anyway.  Anyway, I have many ideas "brewing", to combine some cloth with what I am doing.   Well, back to the thrift pile!:) 

RUBBISH: And I mean EVERYWHERE!!!

I feel so guilty!  THIS HOUSE IS TRASHED!!  I really, really meant to spend the day cleaning.  Ryan has been staying with grandma for a few days.  He called and needed reading material.  Sooo .....I made a trip to the library... where I also spent a few hours yesterday for a play date with my friend Ellen and her sweet granddaughter, Molli,  who is about the same age as Ethan.  Well, Ryan called me three times for me to pick up some of the books for him.  My mum was swinging by "the mall" for something, so I met him at the door and dropped off a bag of books for him.  Since I had Ellory in the car with me and Ethan was sleeping so sweetly,  I ran into  the store for diapers, a trip to michaels where I found more stuff I don't need, and a store called "The Outhouse" which carries random paper goods (OK I bought 100 french fry bags because I LOVED the feel of them for collaging?) from stores that have closed.  They also have a candy supply "storette" where Elle and I picked up our annual Valentine day supplies. It has been just "us girls" and Ethan for the last few days.  I have not cleaned, cooked ( except to make a batch of cookies, just what I needed), my hair is barely combed and Ethan is lucky to have a fresh Dipe!!!  Well, I will go to mums tonight to celebrate Ryan's birthday.  (That's where he wanted it....I will cart down pizzas from his fave joint and chase Ryan around her "Marthaesque" , overly cleaned and organized house.  Oh that DOES come with all the trimmings I crave.  Finely decorated table, everything matchy, matchy....and we never EVER mix dishes!!!  I LOVE that at HER house!!  I feel so bad when she comes to visit ME:)  I wonder why I need a pepcid all of the sudden???:)

P.S.  Does anyone else out there like sketching on manilla folders??.....I just LOVE the color of them... also gifted myself with two .005 micron pens.  

ROSES: Bountiful Snow

I have been "quiet" in the past week trying to get the house in order and making a plan to organize my chores so I have more time to create.  I still have a ways to go but am getting there, slowly but surely.  Included in this organization is finishing up my little nook (almost done) and I am STILL putting away Christmas decorations. I am also creating a journaling/planning my day/meditation kind of spot. I will be making a bigger effort to catch up on correspondence with friends as well.  Between baby and homeschooling and trying to keep up with everything, my creative endeavors are squeezed in at any free minute I have.  "The nook" has been great....I am able to "steal" a lot more time and even have a few things ready for Etsy!  Maybe someday I will be brave enough to share pics of my little space.

We had a great time on Sunday with our little guy.  It was just that perfect snow AND perfect temperature to be outside.  He LOVED the sled and playing in the snow.  Ethan's bestest furry friend Jasper had fun too!:)  OH, we have been having furnace problems and I am happy to report we will have consistent heat after today.  OF course when it rains it pours.  My van had a major breakdown at the same time.  

Well, baby is calling .......

"You Tube" and "You Never Know"

Just a quick post... .you just never know what's out there on the net. I  Didn't realize there was footage of me on You Tube.  I just wanted to put up the Music Video that our extremely talented friend  Anthony produced for Tim's song "Waterman",(one of my favorites that Tim wrote).  I found footage of me performing with Tim and I couldn't get them off my blog.  (They were pretty boring.)  But alas, I was able to remove the video AND my bad hair! Yeah!  For more samples of Tim's music go to hhstudios.com  OH, and in the same vein of this random post,  I just put up some pictures of work that had hearts or kind of a "Valentiney" feel to them.  All are long gone except for the trinket box which I never tried to sell.  It just kind of hangs out in my craft room.  As you can tell I am a big fan of hearts....oh and I noticed a few scarves "blowing around" as well.:)