Someone to Watch Over Me. . . .

Isn't she beautiful? I purchased this Madonna figure from Beth Leintz after reading this post on her blog. I was drawn to her because of the pale pink and blue colors and delicate detailing. Just as Beth said in her post, I'm so happy she watching over things around here.

Be sure to stop back tomorrow for this.

Be Soft

Sometimes this is a difficult concept to achieve. . .

. . . but just keep working at it, because in the end it's much better to be sweet than to be cynical.

Color Inspiration

1. Peachy-Pink Bunny Print Baby Quilt, 2. Concrete Peach Texture, 3. Picking Peaches, 4. peach rose with raindrops

I know I told you I'd be posting photos of my vintage finds from our last trip up to the cottage. I haven't forgotten. I've been busy with this and that. Besides the rain clouds that have been lurking overhead for the past few days haven't made for good picture taking weather anyway. I'll post those pics soon. I promise. In the meantime, enjoy this yummy peach inspiration mosaic.

Summer Cottages

Blogger has been causing problems the last few days and so that is why I haven't been posting. It seems to be working for the moment, however there seems to be changes to the system that I am not exactly thrilled with. What a pain! I wish they would leave well-enough alone. So be patient with me as I try to adapt to all the new-fangled features.

After my last post about that cute little artist's cottage, I decided to do a search on Flickr to see if I could find some other fun summer cottages. During my search I was surprised at what some people consider a cottage to be. Wikipedia describes a cottage as "a modest dwelling, typically in a rural, or semi-rural location." That is sort of the same thing I picture in my mind when I think of a quaint little cottage. But some people have pictures of what I consider to be huge mansions tagged with the word cottage. I guess it's all in the mind of the beholder.

I couldn't figure out how to add the links to each of the cottage photos shown above with this new version of Blogger, but if you are interested I do have them linked up over on Flickr right here.

Weekend Getaway

We had a chance to drive up to our cottage this past weekend. It had been two whole months since we were last there. The photo shown above is not our cottage, but the "art cottage" of Pipka, an artist who has long been a resident of the area. Pipka began her career by making gorgeous hand-painted Santas. She continues to create them, but has also delved into the world of mixed media collage. The pieces she had on display and for sale were full of wonderful texture and dimension. Someday I hope to take a class here at Pipka's beautifully landscaped studio.

Her gardens are truly amazing! What glorious surroundings to create art in.

Such meticulously manicured planting beds.

The blossoms on this Horse Chestnut tree were HUGE!

The Siberian Iris blooms made quite a statement. I forgot to take my camera along, so all these photos were taken with my cell phone. Everything was even more awesome in person!

Two different types of Lilac bushes - my favorite scent of all the flowers!

Next time I'll share some of my vintage finds from the trip.

Lee's Da Man!

He did it! Our very own local guy, Lee DeWyze is the newest American Idol! How exciting to watch this talented guy blossom week after week and then win it all in the end. And a BIG shout-out goes to Crystal Bowersox as well - she absolutely rocks and is going to be a huge success too with her distinctive vocal styling. I think this has been the best season of all time on AI. Now back to our regularly scheduled art blog. . . .

I just wanted to send HUGS out to all of you who visited our Joli Paquet blog this season. We had so much fun sharing all our kits and tutorials with you and are ever so grateful for all of your support. We're taking a break for the summer but be sure to check back with us in the fall for an all new season of exciting creative projects.

A Couple of Things. . . .

This limited edition collection of Spring Flower Tags is available on Rebecca Sower's Haiti By Hand Etsy shop. There are 15 of these wonderful tags in the set, each one created by a different artist, including me!

You still have a few hours to enter my giveaway over at Joli Paquet for the goodies pictured above. I'll be drawing the winning name at 5:00 pm CST tomorrow (Tuesday, 5/25) so click here and leave a comment for a chance to win.

UPDATE: GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED!

Congratulations to Carol Mae!

Spring Giveaway!

I'm hosting a little giveaway over on Joli Paquet today. You can click here to enter.

Thank you all so much for your wonderful comments regarding my Art Saves story on Crescendoh. My Guest Curator piece runs all week and the photo links for each artist shown here change each day, so be sure to check back throughout the week for more inspiration.

Art Saves!

Today (and all week) I am sharing my Art Saves story here as a Guest Curator for Jenny Doh's Crescendoh website. How exciting is that? The story I wrote is rather ironic since shortly after submitting it, I suddenly was thrust into a similar event that has become another huge test of my faith and all the beliefs I wrote about for Art Saves.

I am trying my best to apply what I learned 34 years ago to this new situation.

I've been journaling like crazy, completing several pages each day.

Some are still in the "work in progress" stage like the one pictured below.

And some are complete pages on mundane topics such as Sleep,

or doodling,

or a favorite flower.

But most of all it helps to keep busy and submerge yourself in something that you love. Something that will help to clear your mind and allow life's lessons and gifts to emerge, helping you to make some sense of all that is happening around you. In my case that "something" is art.

And for me, Art Saves!

Flowers, Flowers, Everywhere!

We've received such beautiful flowers at the house since my DH came home from the hospital. The arrangement shown above is one example - a huge basket filled with exotic flowers in a gorgeous rich color palette. It's so wonderful to be surrounded by all the beauty of nature when you are recuperating. Thanks to all for your wonderful gifts of love and caring.

A Teeny Tiny Brush With Fame

I am a huge American Idol fan this season. And Lee DeWyze and Crystal Bowersox were my two favorites from the very beginning. Lee is from a suburban town just up the street from where I live, which was probably my initial reason rooting for him at the start.

Chicago Tribune Photo by Phil Velasquez

As some of you know my DH was in the hospital last month and I noticed that all the nurses were wearing buttons which said, "I voted for Lee DeWyze." Of course that was an immediate conversation starter and I found out that Lee's mom Kathy works at the hospital and the buttons were being sold to raise money for her to fly out to California every week for his performances on the show. I also learned that Crystal is a distant relative of Dr. Keith Bowersox, who happens to be on staff at the same hospital. Small world, huh?

The morning of my husband's surgery, one of the nurses came in to do an EEG scan (sort of like an EKG for your brain) in which my husband was told to lie completely still and not talk or make any facial movements. As he was lying there having the test done, the nurse and I started talking about American Idol and we went on and on about it. I couldn't believe that my husband could keep a straight face during our silly conversation. But eventually he did succumb and cracked a little smile, which the nurse saw and had to make a notation on the scan so the doctors would know it was his smile, and not his brain, making the test go hay-wire.

If you don't watch American Idol and don't know who Lee and Crystal are, click on the video below to hear a duet the two of them sang on Tuesday night.

Next Tuesday will be the the show where they film the contestants going back to visit their home town. All the nurses at the hospital are hoping AI will do a segment at the hospital.

The Girls

Here's a collage I made a little while ago which was inspired by my mother and her two sisters. I remember my grandpa always saying he was so fortunate to have three beautiful girls. Most men want to have a son to carry on the family name. Come to think of it, years ago when we were expecting our only child, my husband told me he was secretly hoping we would have a girl. And lucky for us that's exactly what we had! {Vintage image from Lisa's Altered Art and some of the background papers are from Cathe Holden.}

Happy Mother's Day

Today is the day we celebrate our mothers, grandmothers, aunties, and other maternal figures who have nurtured and cared for us over the years. This year I miss my mother more than ever. I miss her wisdom to know what to do in difficult situations, her comforting hugs which made my tears disappear when I was sad or hurt, her reassuring words that would make me feel safe at all times, her encouragement which made me feel I could conquer the world and most of all, her unconditional love - no matter what. I've been looking through old photo albums trying to channel these attributes of hers ~ now when I need them the most. But I know she is with me all the time, like an angel watching over me. Happy Mother's Day to you Mama!

Dress Tag

~ Photo courtesy of Cindy Gilstrap ~

Isn't this the cutest thing? My friend Cindy made this darling tag and she shows us how she did it right here.

Look for the Gifts

We're so excited to have Joli Paquet be featured today on the Where Women Create blog as a part of the site's Fabulous Friday feature. Jo did a wonderful write up and we're offering 4 giveaways over there as well. Go check it out right here.

Gratitude

Many thanks to everyone for their love and prayers over the last few days. I can't tell you how much they are appreciated. My aunt seems to be making a miraculous recovery which has taken a huge worry off my shoulders. I have been so concerned about her these past few weeks and felt so frustrated that I couldn't be with her. She is an amazing woman and such a huge inspiration for those of us who know and love her. Please continue to keep your prayers coming for my her, as well as my DH. He came through surgery with flying colors but still has a long road ahead of him.