Friend Indeed - Friend In Need

~ Excerpt from The Brave Girl's Club ~

Yesterday I got news from my dear friend Sue Reaney about her husband Jud. Many of you know Sue from her beautiful blog, Katsui Jewelry. Some of you may not. Sue is an incredibly strong woman who is so caring and supportive of others. She is always such a positive force in the blogging world and she left so many encouraging comments on my blog when my DH was battling cancer. Her similar journey was just beginning at that time. She needs that support and encouragement herself now, so if you have a moment please say a prayer and leave her a comment on this post here.

Friday Fill-Ins

1. It's time to start exercising.

2. Clean out the fridge ... and don't forget the freezer!

3. I'm trying to organize my studio.

4. "Oakie Dokie", that was the last funny comment I received.

5. Please send me a new roof.

6. Don't worry cause I'm in it for the long haul.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to watching TV, tomorrow my plans include Game Night and Sunday, I want to finish my journals for a swap!

Join in on the fun here.

Altered Journal

The past few days I've been working on my altered journal from the Creatively Made class I am taking. I am finally finished....I think. Sometimes it's hard to know when to stop.

This is what the journal looked like before I began altering it. It's just a inexpensive journal I found in the $1.00 bin at Michael's.

I collaged the cover with lots of vintage papers, inks, paints and stamps, etc.

Next, I added more details to my girl.

And finally, I added some gold wire and beads to the spine of the journal to give it a little bling.

What you don't see is the entire box of neatly organized beads turned upside down on the floor of my studio after it fell off the edge of my work table! I spent the rest of the afternoon picking them all up from the carpet and re-sorting them back into their various compartments.

Vintage Journal

I've been taking Jeanne Oliver's Creatively Made class. She is such an inspirational artist. I love her sweet, gentle, encouraging spirit. She's teaching us so many wonderful techniques and it's been a lot of fun to create some artwork using them.

This is the vintage journal I made from one of her week one lessons.

I really like the juxtaposition between the frilly lace and rhinestones and the leather

"be strong" piece which I made from the belt of someone very special to me. I know he would want me to be strong.

Friday Fill-Ins

Here we go!

1. When I looked out the window this morning I saw a lot of snow!

(The snow-thrower didn't work, so I had to shovel by it by hand - Ugh!)

2. Twitter doesn't make sense to me.

3. Remind me to clean out my junk drawer.

4. Journaling is something I love to do!

5. TP is short for toilet paper on my grocery list.

6. I cleaned the refrigerator recently and I found a lot of candy!

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to watching a movie, tomorrow my plans include cleaning the house and Sunday, I want to go out for breakfast.

Want to play along? Join in here.

I Got My Mojo Back. . .

We had our first measurable snowfall of winter today which is very late for us here in the Midwest. I watched the snow falling from my window - I didn't even go outside to shovel the driveway because I was busy enjoying a steaming cup of French Vanilla coffee and looking at old magazines! Can you say L-A-Z-Y??? I'll probably pay for it tomorrow when the temperature drops and the snow is frozen solid. But being snowed-in has it's benefits, because I got a little creative urge. This is just a peek at what I'm working on.

It felt so good to be making something artsy again.

Morning Routine

I've been trying to walk at the mall on weekdays. I find I can get a more non-stop continuous walk in if I don't walk in my neighborhood where people stop and want to chat. I listen to talk-radio on my iPhone to catch up with the news while I walk. Afterwards I usually grab a cup of coffee and find a place to sit. I carry a small tablet of paper and pen with me so I can do some sketching. This routine seems to get my day off to a good start.

Happy New Year!!!

Wishing you all a blessed New Year!

Happy Day After Christmas!

Christmas is over - it came and went so quickly! I am exhausted, but thought I would share a few pictures that I didn't get a chance to post before the holiday.

I found this door mat for my front door at Target and it states my "One Little Word" for 2012.

Surprisingly, I actually got some last minute Christmas crafting accomplished on Friday and Saturday mornings.

I made this Christmas Cloche from a class taught by the Gilded Life Girls in Christy Tomlinson's 12 Artsy Ornaments class.

A cute little glittered tree in a glass toothpick holder.

This cute bird nest ornament is one I made from another of the 12 Artsy Ornaments classes taught by Margie Romney-Aslett.

I found this candle idea on Pinterest using cranberries, fresh evergreens and a floating candle.

We all had a wonderful Christmas (I hope you did too) and like the doggies, I am ready now for a long nap!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from Hank and Shooter and ME!

My daughter took these photos of the dogs in their holiday attire. (Be sure to click on the photo to see a larger view....their expressions are so funny!) Our family is so grateful that the boys survived their "adventure" and are here to celebrate Christmas with us.

Wishing you all a blessed Christmas!

The Tree Is Lit

I put up my white feather table top tree instead of my big tree again this year. Last year it was because of necessity. This year it was by choice. I love this little tree and it fits perfectly in the corner of my living room.
It is filled with handmade ornaments from my friends and some from shops like Anthropologie and Crate & Barrel.

And some are made my little 'o me as well.

This fabric Santa ornament was made by my sweet friend Natalea. I think he is adorable!

Big Snow

Yesterday we had a snowfall which lasted for about 5 whole minutes. There wasn't much snow and none of it stuck to the ground, but the snowflakes were HUGE! I wish my camera could have captured the way it looked better than it did.

Here is what it looked like collecting on my deck.

It looked as though cotton balls were falling from the sky - that's about the size the flakes were!

And while all that BIG snow was falling, I decided to whip up a batch of nut breads to give away for Christmas!

Christmas Stocking Swap - Part 2

As promised, today I'm going to share with you what I received from the lovely Kim Gann in Cerri's Christmas Stocking Swap. When I opened the packing box, I found this festively wrapped box.

And when I opened the package, this is what I found!

This beautifully adorned canvas stocking. Here it is hanging above my fireplace.

A snowman card from Kim with some pretty trims.

This metal box with a snow house and sweet snowman on the lid.

And a Santa ornament nestled in these cute star shaped packing peanuts. I've never seen those before - they're so cute!

Here's a close-up of the Santa. I just noticed that his eyes are closed. Perhaps he is resting up before he has to deliver all those gifts to the children on Christmas!

Also included with the stocking were these cute bags full of goodies.

Some wooden shapes - I immediately spotted those people shapes and I'm going to use them to make some of Julie Collings's little angels, shown in this post here.

In the "J" bag, Kim gave me a little kit to make a red mitten ornament. Isn't that clever?

I think my favorite of all the goodies was this pewter ornament in the santa bag.

I have lots of ornaments that mark various milestones in my life - wedding, new house, new baby, etc. But I never thought of getting an ornament (nor have I ever seen one) that would mark my DH's passing.

Here is a close-up of the sentiment. Isn't it a beautiful thought? I love it!

And last, but certainly not least, Kim included some vintage Valentine ephemera to inspire me for the next big holiday. You thought of everything Kim. Thank you so much!