Breathe...

Yesterday, out there in blogland - I discovered a recipe for cheesy chicken noodle soup. It's cold and icy here, school has been out all week, there is still a LOT of snow on the ground, and this morning the temperature was 9 defees F. So chicken noodle soup sounded like a wonderful idea. Well, it was okay. Needs work for my crew to love it, starting with the phrase "leave out the cheese." I'll be working on this recipe some more.

Any way --- its cold -- we have been cooped up for days - even the dog is miserable with cabin fever.

So a little redecorating is being planned.

My word for the year is ABUNDANCE. I'll be pondering on it for the year. MaryAnn and I chose BEAUTY for January and that has been a wonderful thing.

Then he said to them "Watch out! Be on guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an ABUNDANCE of possesions." Luke 12:15

So that my friends is where pondering has found me. I have stuff. Lot's and lot's of stuff. Stuff I do not needs. Stuff that is weighing me down. I have stuff that others thought would bring a smile to my face as they gifted me with it. Stuff that clutters my attic, my limited storage through out the house, my studio, my mind.
STUFF.

Just look......
I love my day to day mantle - have for years. Family photo, artwork I made, candles. Really pretty stuff. Sometimes I clutter surfaces with things that could be hung, because I have stuff hanging that needs to be moved.

My Christmas mantle made me very very happy this year. It wasn't over the top. There wasn't a ton of things. No formality at all. Simple and heartfelt.

I packed all that away and have had an empty mantle there for several days.

Last night College Girl came in. She had a dollar store frame, and a pastel drawing she had done. She asked me to help her frame the drawing. I made me happy, reminded me that warmth and sunshine will return. SO my early winter mantel is now done. Some would say this should be a summer mantel, but I'm loving this RIGHT NOW.

Take a look.

Yes, I am very proud to display her artwork in my house.

A few colored glass bottles - a chalk drawing of the beach - a shell.. MMMMMMM.

The tall green bottle was my mom and dads, it has been around as long as I can remember. The shell I gathered myself. The blue bottle is a tequila bottle I kept just because I love it. (think I'll hang a sand dollar on that one) and the red one was a Christmas gift from College Girl.

So I cleared an ABUNDANCE of stuff off there and gave this arrangement an ABUNDANCE of breathing room.

I'm thinking this is BEAUTIFUL to look at.

Happy Happy girl.

What cha think?

I'm planning a room redo (actually several) using the Pittsburg paints 411 series

with colors like silvery moon, veil of dusk, french grey linen, and photo grey. They are all a grey green and I am so very excited about it all coordinating through the house. www.voiceofcolor.com a slightly off white trim (maybe a pure white -TBD)

Have a wonderful day - I am looking forward to a wonderful warmer weekend.

Inspiration - and the inspired WIP

I saw this ( I think on the decor8 blog) etched glass artwork and fell head over heels in love (lust). I adore words and fonts and this is just plain fun. If anyone out there can identify the artist, I would love to provide a link here. I am on a spending moratorium so I came up wth my own pattern fully inspired by this work.

Since I am much more comfortable and fully equipped for stitch work (you really have no idea how well equipped), I chose that as my medium. There are some birthdays that are way past due to be gifted and this will soon be finished and on it's way to a new home. This is one of the top secret projects I have referred to in the last few weeks.

I took a LOVE chart and regraphed it into an assemblage of the words. Then using floss left over from cross stitch kits, I blocked off a rectangle on a piece of linen with blue, dark red and green floss. I then chose a random location to start the stitching of the words.

After I finished stitching the words, the piece still looked incomplete. Enter a software package that I found online - random stripe generator - and I chose a few colors off their chart knowing that I could sub in my own floss colors later. Since coming up with a layout plan, I have been happily stitching away - completely filling in the background of the thing. I like just a few stitches finishing it.

I am having trouble deciding how to finish this. Part of me wants it to be a pillow. Part of me wants it to be a quilted wall hanging. Part of me wants to mix media mount it with papers and such onto a canvas. Any feedback on how you might display this in your home or office?

MaggieGrace goodies have been few and far between of late here. I have been working on things, just holding back on some of them.

Why was this so top secret? ------- FEAR ------- Because I still do not fully trust my design and art instincts, I kept this to myself until I was okay with it. What if it turned out wonky? What if it was too weird and I just wanted to toss it (been there done that)? What if.... What if..... What if......

I do like how how it has finished, but part of me still wonders if anyone else will like it. I am trying to slay those WHAT IF demons by participating in the be brave challenges and by following the WHAT IF commentary over at spirit cloth and the commentary on it by calamity kim. Any of you guys still fight the "what if monster"? Any battle secrets for victory that you want to share?

I have a new top secret project to start very soon involving a certain bloggers soon to be new little one in her arms. This one will remain top secret until delivery, but for a different reson - she reads and this one needs to be secret until it goes to her house to live.

Have a wonderful day everyone........