A Sampler Swap

As I promised myself this year in my list of

goals....I am challenging myself to

participate in more swaps. I love a good

swap. The anticipation of waiting

for them to come in the mail.....

all lovingly packaged. It is a simple joy

I just love. As you can tell by my sidebar....I do

partake in a few. I belong to a wonderful group

of Silver Bella gals that will be sending off

our third independent from Silver Bella swap

next week. The group is 15 strong and we make ornaments

for different holidays. We have done a spring swap....a

Halloween swap....and this one will be a Valentine swap.

The group is hosted by Alanna George and let me

tell you the talent is strong. Last year at Silver Bella I participated

in Chantal Johnson....from Wishblooms....her sampler swap.

This is what I sent. I had to make 4 I believe. I was trying to

be fancy.....and I really liked how it turned out. She made our samplers

into little sewing books with embroidery scissors.

Really a wonderful keepsake. So....this year

I thought I would go out on a limb and join Linda's.....from A

Swap for All Season's 5x7 sampler one on one swap. I will get my

partner shortly and eagerly wait to get started. Sewing really isn't my

thing....but I love the calmness of it. It is relaxing and by

participating in these little sewing swaps it forces me to get

out of my comfort zone. I have joined a few more....but let me

finish them....and I will post about them later. Hope you

had an artfully creative day today. Blessings for a beautiful

tomorrow.

My Possum Story

Some might think this is cute.

I don't. Especially at 2:30 a.m. when you hear

a blood curdling scream. 'Mom.....we

have a rat!' We were knee deep in

renovations....the 12" crown moulding had

been removed from the base boards. A huge expanse

of crawl space could be seen. The dirt floor remains of a

generations old possum colony had been exposed.....and

now it was time to meet the humans. I can see why the kids

thought it was a rat....it's long nasty tail....it's beady little eyes.

This is more of what I saw. Plus add to the humiliation.....
that you think you have a rat in your home. A
mouse might be bad enough. I was devastated. In fact....
I was balling my eyes out and wanting to go
to the nearest Holiday Inn. We were all pretty shaken.
The next day I called my good friend Kevin....lucky for
me he owns POW Extermination. Get it POW.....because they
get it done. They get rid of vermin. He said....'I don't see any signs
of rat infestations. It would be really evident.' Gnawing....pawing....
all sorts of rat behavior. But the kids said they saw a RAT!!!



......so the next day....it all came clear to me. We
didn't have a rat....we had a possum! The dogs were
going ballistic. One was hunkered up all safe on
the couch. The other one....was protecting us. Treed to
the back of the couch ready to pounce on said RAT....um....
possum. Lincoln yanked forward the couch....Liberty lunged
forward....grabbing the RAT.....um possum by the scruff of
the neck and immediately ran out her doggie door.





Lincoln and I bolted out the door....not the doggie
door of course....and I said get it Lincoln!!!! He was
scared so I started beating the ferocious RAT....um....
possum in the head with a hoe. It flattened to the mere
size of a pancake. I scooped it up with the hoe and took it to
the driveway so I would be able to show my husband....ummm....
let's say my kill to make him happy....when he got home.
No sooner had I placed that sucker down on the driveway.....
it was gone. I thought our stable hand had disposed of it....
but no.....that RAT.....ummm possum....well you guessed it....
it was playing possum. So now we had a brain dead....possum
playing POSSUM running around.






This possum.....um not so lucky.....or is he just playing....
POSSUM????? I hope you enjoyed one of the many
adventures that I have taken in my humble
little farm life. I am not a farm girl at heart....but I do love
our quaint little life here. For those of you curious about the use
of possum/opossum....you can use them interchangeably according
to my dictionary. Do any of you have funny stories...I would love
to hear them....at first I was a little scared to tell this one.
I thought you all might think I lived in squalor...but then I thought
it was just too funny not to tell. I hope you have a clear image
in your mind at what I might have looked like beating
a poor defenseless possum with a hoe. Blessings for a fun filled
evening.

I want Sparseness in my Life

I promise you that I have been very energetic

these past couple of weeks. I have been

so diligent at clearing out. I think they actually quit

taking donations at one of the smaller....more

quaint re-sale shops here in town because

I was taking in too much. The sign on the door

said 'No more donations until further notice!'

YIKES!

So I switched and started taking in more

to the Goodwill.

This is the kind of chaos that we have been

living in the last couple of weeks.

On one hand it feels great. On the other

hand it feels chaotic. It is really hard

to relax when you know you have such a mess

under foot. Which makes me start thinking about

my goals for 2011. Do you realize that by

achieving some of your goals you have to break

some of your goals? Like for example....at the top

of my goals....and remember they weren't in any

particular order.....but let's face it they kind of are.

'Enter studio and create daily.'

It is really hard to do that when your studio is torn

up because you are re-organizing. But I am committed

to believing that you have to work all your goals.

So.....that is why I have been just adding little blurbs

into my blog.

....and the really funny thing about all this

donating and clearing out....

each time I pull into the local Goodwill

it about kills me not to go in. I want to

go in and shop. I am staying committed and focused

until I achieve the sparseness that I want. Then....and

only then will I feel that I have achieved my goal.

I hope that YOU are able to have an artfully

creative day....because I am going to have another

day of weeding out.

P.S. More dates with Jeff is last on my 2011 list of goals.

He certainly is not last on the list. So Jeff, if you

are reading this post....I love you honey!!!

Picture Perfect Pretty

I had the opportunity to have my children

photographed this past fall. We

went to Richardson Studio here

in Bloomington.

It was a tremendous experience

This husband/wife duo have

immense talent. They captured the

true beauty of my kids.

Her eyes do it for me every time.

It was so fun to take in what

I considered a trousseau. Lindsey packed

up all her favorites....and from there

the experts picked out their favorites.

Then they set the stage for our photo shoot.

They made Lindsey & Lincoln

feel confident & expressive.

.....and added un poco skin.....which about did

this momma in. But when I saw the

actual photo....I melted. Tasteful with a

little 'art' mixed in. This momma is really

proud of these photos. By the way....this will not

be a portrait that is hung above our

mantle....however....I think it truly captures

the beauty of Lindsey and will be

enjoyed for years to come from a beautiful

scrapbook that they put together for us.

Blessings for an artfully creative day.

Felted Flower Inspiration

I've been perusing the Internet getting excited about all

kinds of felted flowers. There are so many

great examples. They really inspired me to

get creative.

Since I took Betz White's felted frame class

at Silver Bella I can't get my hands

on enough wool. In fact.....part of the reason

I haven't been blogging about anything

I have created is because I haven't

created much since before Christmas.

I had to completely re-organize my

studio because wool has over come me. I can't

walk without tripping over felted wool sweaters.

Jeff brought me in 2 large....wonderful....

deep low shelves. I put in a center island so

I have a great work station with stools.

It seems when I come up with a great idea....

Jeff is right there along side of me complimenting

me and making my creative space so

much better. That is one of the many

reasons I adore him.

I think these were cut out with a sizzix.

I have used my sizzix to cut out some

very thin felted wool. It makes for

such a cute technique. If you scroll

back a few posts back you can actually

see my felted pin cushion rings. I cut those

out with the sizzix and also added

a felted ball that I embroidered some

french knots on.

These struck me as so cute. I think these

were probably wet felted.

I am not sure....but that is my take.

I will post pictures about the craft room

after it is finished. I can't wait for you

all to see the progress. It seems as

if we all want to see the spaces that we create

in more than what we actually create!

I know when people stop by they want to come

in to the studio more than any other

room in the house! Blessings for an

artfully creative day.

Hold Dear.....The Shop

I got really excited tonight when I was blog hopping.

I found out my good friend Michelle Geller

is debuting her brand new online store....Hold Dear.

You can access the site through her blog.....

silly me can't quite figure out this

whole linking thing but just type it in.

http://www.michellegeller.typepad.com/

or just click on my link....it should direct you.

She debuts Wednesday, January 5th at

6:00p.m. Pacific Time.

Look at some of the yummy things.....

Santos Hands.

as with Michelle....she always has the coolest
paper goodies.


and me oh my.....look at the wonderful
vintage tickets.




......and it probably wouldn't be complete
with out her awesome Dennison Labels.
Michelle first taught me about these
neat things....and now I am hooked. Her shop is going
to debut with all her yummy vintage treasures & supplies.....
but soon she will be adding journals & jewelry.
I know you won't want to miss this.....she always
has the best vintage stuff.

Veggies for 2011

As my friend Heather so aptly pointed out this morning,

she likes that I stated my GOALS for 2011....

and didn't make any resolutions. That is really what is

more important anyway. I know when I feel the best....

it is when I eat more fruits & vegetables. It's

hard to do that....especially when your mind

considers FAT.....SUGAR.... and WHITE FLOUR

food groups.

So that is what I am planning on doing. Do you

see that word PLANNING? Well that is what

I need to do to incorporate more fruits & vegetables

into my diet. I plan on having lot's of

vegetables and fruits on hand. Then....I can

make omelets....stir fries.....snacks.

I am not saying that I am the picture of health. Not by
any means. But I know that the foods that God
put on this earth....not the foods we have processed
on this earth....are what I need to be eating. And I truly feel
that many of these foods must be organic. I try to buy
certain foods organically. Like peppers. Like celery. Like
carrots. Like apples. These foods are found very easily in the
organic section of my local Kroger.



Really.....I do love most vegetables. I have some favorites.
Sugar Snap Peas....these little babies are by far
an Ellington favorite. I quit buying them fresh and have
been opting on purchasing them in the frozen section
in those new little steamer bags. If I need them in a hurry I pop
them in the microwave for 1 minute....then run them under
cool water the rest of the way. They are just YUMMY!
Yellow....orange.....and red peppers. Another Ellington staple.
Roasted Carrots. I know....they caramelize and get really sweet....but
hey...they are still a veggie & my kids love them. We eat them in
a bowl with some cottage cheese. It is bright & beautiful eating
them this way.




...and really....who doesn't adore roasted vegetables.
The smoky subtileness is delicious. I love adding some mild
goat cheese to a thick slice of grilled farm bread and then
layering on the roasted vegetables. Here I would love to also add
some GOOD balsamic vinegar. A big roasted portebella....some roasted
peppers....and some roasted asparagus. Really...this wouldn't be
torture at all...in fact this is sounding really yummy. I really am
glad I want to incorporate this healthier food fare into my
2011 diet. It is going to better for all of us. Here's to
my realistic goals! Bon Appetit'!