Yellow Is My Favorite Color!

"The colour holds such warmth, brightness and attraction for us because it is the colour of the sun, the source that sustains us.  In terms of its physics, yellow has absorbed red and green and then reflects yellow back.  Red is the colour of life, blood and fire; and green the colour of growth and hope.  Little wonder that yellow has such a life-giving brightness. . . .  Goethe says: ‘Yellow brings with her the nature of brightness and has a delightful, encouraging, exciting and soft quality.’ " 

~John O’Donohue~ Divine Beauty

What is your favorite color and how do you use it in your art? 

New Art -- A Tag and Card

The past weeks have been a blur and passed quickly. In addition to helping my sis take care of my Mom, I've changed jobs and now back at my old job which is not as fast paced. So that has helped in reducing some stress in my life. My Mom is doing better and back at home so I'll continue to help with her. We're going through her belongings, sorting, decluttering, packing up what she wants to keep. Maybe in a couple of months she will be able move into a smaller place, an apartment.

I'm trying to rest a bit and enjoy the beautiful Spring weather. But not resting for too long. I've been able to do a little gardening and have some herbs and tomato plants started. I have even been able to work on a little bit of art and on my Etsy shop but it will be a while yet before it's open.

I also made a decision to invest in a die cut machine. Having a limited art budget and working space, I've been debating over die cutters for several long months. I finally decided to go with the Sizzix Big Shot. I didn't want a large, detailed, expensive die cutter so I've only looked over the hand operated ones. I narrowed it down between the Sizzix and the Cuttlebug but finally decided on the Sizzix Big Shot which I purchased at Amazon. First of all, it's in my price range, secondly I like the look of the base. The longer base appeared to be have the amount of room I'm looking for and sturdy enough to prevent tipping. From viewing some online videos about using the different die cutters, the Sizzix fit my needs. I like that different brands of dies can be used on the Sizzix. I bought five dies to get started with: Primitive Hearts, Scalloped Circles, Sizzix Movers and Shapers Tim Holtz Tag & Bookplate die, Spellbinders Nestabilities Card Creator Rectangles, and Spellbinders Shapeabilities Home Sweet Home. I'll experiment with these for a while but I'm sure I will purchase a few more dies that I think I will use often.  It just arrived a few days ago and I've already started using it! Anyone else have a die cut machine, especially the Sizzix Big Shot?

Here's  a couple of my creations using the large tag, wings, and little hearts dies:

Welcome Spring!!!

Spring has arrived with chilly wind and snow flurries where I live but I'll go with the calendar to mark moving on to the next season! A few buds are appearing. The Pussy Willows, so soft and fuzzy, while little green stems are peeping through the earth. Moving on to a new season in a new, some what difficult way. My dear 82 year old Mother has been in the hospital for a week and is now temporarily at a physical therapy rehabilitation facility so my days are filled with visiting her. This is the beginning of giving back to her in a new way, of caregiver, protecting her, helping her. She was always there for me and now it is my turn to be there for her. There will be hard struggles ahead but with my Mother there will be much sweetness and smiles mixed in. 

"What sunshine is to flowers, smiles are to humanity. These are but trifles, to be sure; but scattered along life's pathway, the good they do is inconceivable."
~Joseph Addison~

Art Image: New England Landscape in Spring by George Henry Smillie 1898

Happy Valentine's Day!

Tomorrow is Valentine's Day and I'm sharing some of the wonderful links I've found for Valentine's Day projects. SOOO many!

Painted Newspaper Hearts from You Are My Fave

Floating Heart Backdrop from Hank and Hunt

DIY Heart Garland from The Sweetest Occasion

Fabric Valentine Heart Garland from How About Orange

Tulle Pom Pom Garland from eighteen25

Printable Made With Love Tag from eighteen25

DIY Fiesta Banner from Hi, Friend Design

Simple Shell Valentine Heart from Sand and Sisal

Rustic Little Valentine from Folk Lifestyle

Basic Gray Vintage Card Connection from Basic Gray

Various Valentine Cards from Poppytalk

Food Art How to Carve a Heart Shaped Carrot from Recipe By Photo

Very, Very Valentine-y Sewing Projects from Sew4Home

Velvet Heart Giveaway from The Inspired Room



Baking Hearts!

Sweethart Cupcakes from Glorious Treats

Strawberry Chocolate Chip Cookies from Sally's Baking Addiction

Be Loved Brownies from Very Best Baking

Pink Snowball Puffs from Pamela's Heavenly Treats

Red Velvet Oreo Truffle Bars from Pizzazzerie




Sweet Heart Cupcake Photo from Glorious Treats


Enjoy!

Happy February! & My First Pink Saturday!

Happy February! This is a month deep in the beauty of Winter and alive with the color of red and pink for Valentine's Day, hearts and love. There are LOTS of wonderful projects and tutorials for all kinds of Valentine's Day and heart projects. There's just not enough time to be able to make them all!

For starters, Sugar Lump Studios 14 heARTS starts today and she has her first project: Romance & Genteel Ladies. I am looking forward to all her projects. Follow along, she has a giveaway each project!

One of my February Valentine's Day projects I started a couple weeks ago is this one: beautiful paper strip hearts. Liz from Hoosier Homemade has a tutorial to show how to make them here.

Mine are finished and hanging on my mantle but I want to make a few more. The strips are reds, pinks, and silver shades with a few of the red ones left over from Christmas projects. I found cute little silver metallic heart brads for closing the ends.

I found two other version of this project where photographs are used on one side of the paper, so cool:

Scrapper Girl has two versions: pink, black and white Photo Heart Love and red, black and white Photo Heart Tutorial

eighteen25 has another black and white: Photo Strip Hearts

Crocheting is relaxing for me. I can listen to a book tape or music and the time flies by. Right now I'm making a small crochet heart garland of red, pink, and white crochet hearts. I'm using some for Valentine altered art projects and cards too. I used two different crochet patterns. Little Birdie Secrets has a tutorial with a video: how to crochet a heart which I used for most of the hearts. The other pattern is from Flower Girl Cottage and she has video showing how to make the "Magic Loop" at her Simple and Cute Heart Pattern Free. Using different thread and yarns plus different crochet hook sizes makes for the different sizes of hearts.

February is the month of Love but each and every day should be filled with as much love as possible. I enjoy putting quotes and scripture verses around the house as helpful reminders. So, I finally completed a Cross Stitch pattern that has been lying around for a good long while. The pattern is from The Need'l Love Company called Love 'N Tulips by Diane Kramer.

Tomorrow is Pink Saturday and this will be my first time to participate. Beverly of How Sweet The Sound hosts a special Saturday of links to all things PINK. Find many many many PINK lovelies here at Pink Saturday. What is Pink Saturday?

From all the PINK participants before me, the first one to interest me is Lululiz in Lalaland with her crochet pink granny square for her pink scarf project. So soft and cozy!  Lorraine from Over the Rainebeau visited me. I visited her blog and found she has some sweet vintage Valentines made and lovely free images for download. You can take a visit to both of these PINK participants by following the links above.

Enjoy!

"I think of the love of God as a great river, pouring through us even as the waters pour through our ravine at flood time. Nothing can keep this love from pouring through us, except of course our own blocking of the river."
~Amy Carmichael~

A Post Card To Help Save A Little Post Office

Jane Davies owns a little Post Office in Rupert, Vermont which is under review for deciding whether or not to keep it open. See a picture and video of her little Post Office and read what she shared about it here at: Jane's little Post Office. She says: "It's one of the smallest, and definitely the cutest, post office in the state, and probably in the country."  And I agree with her, it certainly is and I love her chickens, too!

In an attempt to increase the volume of mail to her Post Office she is sharing a fun post card mailing hoping to keep her Post Office open. Here's her instructions:

 So, in an attempt to (A) increase the volume of mail that comes through my little post office, and (B) to do something really FUN, I'm proposing the following:

• YOU send me an art postcard. It can be original handmade, or a photocopy of something you've made. Print your name and address clearly on the card.
• Mail to: Jane Davies, PO Box 45, Rupert, VT  05768
•  I  send YOU a postcard, handmade.  I don't promise it will be something you want to frame, but it will be original.  I will send postcards to the first 200 respondents.
• I will post ALL the post cards I receive on this blog.  On each card I will indicate the name of its creator and the place from whence it came.  If the volume is overwhelming, I'll open a separate blog just for the cards.  If nobody sends me a card, I will be sad and our post mistress will be out of a good time, and eventually a job.

She also has some great art tutorials at her blog. One of my favorite is the Visual Journal with Gel Plate where she shows how to make journal page backgrounds and pages (the unbound folios) as starting points for visual exploration. She paints, draws, prints then decorates or makes collage for finishing the pages for binding into a book format for further use. More of her tutorials here.

Here's a photo of a post card I made for a post card swap in 2008 that I sent to her yesterday:

I printed it on cardstock then printed the image of one of my antique post cards (below) on the other side to make it look like a real post card - up at the top left is says: "T. N. T."--To-day, Not to-morrow!:

This vintage post card image above is a "Freebie For You" from my personal vintage post card collection. This is free to download and you may use it in your art only, NOT for Sale on a Collage Sheet or a CD.

If you use this vintage post card for any personal art or art projects for sale, please, make a reference back to me here at my altered heART works blog A Post Card To Help Save A Little Post Office. Thanks! I would love to see what you make. :-)

Some Thing To Look Forward To In the Deep of Winter

Here it is the end of January already! The deep of Midwest winter weather has been sporadic from frigid Arctic air to balmy southern breezes. Work has been the same with some days extremely busy and others a more slow pace. Sickness has been moving through my family with each of us having some kind of sore throat infection but we're at the end of it soon.

I've been thinking about Valentine's Day and working on some paper, crochet, and cross stitch heart projects. One that I'm looking forward to is Nancy Maxwell James' 14 heARTS from her Sugar Lump Studios.

She says: "Join me for 14 days of totally FREE sweet little projects to share. Cards, tags, mixed-media, fabric art…things that make our hearts go pitter pat! Each day I will offer a heartfelt project idea to create. I hope you will join the fun." 

 I love her art, it so beautiful and inspiring. I am really looking forward to this. The deep of winter isn't so cold after all with all the Valentine's Day projects!

Oh Winter! ruler of the inverted year . . . I crown thee King of intimate delights,
Fire-side enjoyments, home-born happiness, And all the comforts that the lowly
roof, Of undisturb’d retirement, and the hours Of long uninterrupted evening, know.
~William Cowper~ Task (bk. IV, l. 120)

(photograph used with photographer's permission, source: Ashlee Lauren Photography)

Merry Christmas!

I hope you have a WONDERful holiday season and Merry Christmas!

Find my Posts of Christmas Past here!

Beautiful violin by Lindsey Stirling - What Child is This?



"She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus,
for he will save his people from their sins."

Matthew 1:21

Help Build Tiggy's House

My friend Dana, and her family, lost their young son/brother, Mattias (Tiggy), two years ago, Dec. 12, 2012. Dana shares about their life without Mattias and living with grief and their memories of him at her personal blog: Roscommon Acres.

In memory of Tiggy and his legacy, she and her family are working with Tiny Hands International to raise funds for building a home, Tiggy's House, for children of Nepal, children who have been abandoned and victims of sex-trafficking. They are very close to the $40,000.00 needed to build their home for these children. You can be a part of helping raise this last bit of money.

Right now, they are having a Tiggy's House Money Bomb to raise the final dollars before the two year anniversary of Tiggy's passing. You can follow the Money Bomb at Tiggy's House Money Bomb. They are about $300.00 short of the $40,000.00 needed. The building could begin soon and you would be helping rescue these children to give them hope, love, a home, a family, a childhood. Please, consider donating.

If you would like to contribute, here is how you can be a part of Tiggy's House:

Follow this link and go to: Tiny Hands International

then add in the amount you want to donate. The "Select a ministry area or staff member to support" will be marked with a blue dot, then click the drop down bar and find Tiggy's House to make it appear in the box. Fill out any other info and you'll be be a part of Tiggy's House!

If you can't donate at this time, there are other ways to support it.

Read more from Dana about Tiggy's House at her personal blog: Roscommon Acres or at her facebook and their Tiggy's House at facebook too.

“The shock-waves of Mattias’ death ripped through our family, and often the pain returns but now and again, more often than not, we see some of the ripples coming back to our shore of the good God speaks about when He promises those who love him ‘Beauty for Ashes’”
~John and Dana~

One day, we will be given a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of the spirit of despair.

Isaiah 61:3

I never met Mattias (Tiggy) but some day I will!

Love This Bookshelf!!!

Love, Love, Love this...

Happy Thanksgiving!

"I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought; 

and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder." 

~G.K. Chesterton~

 Happy Thanksgiving!!! O give thanks unto the Lord, 

for He is good, for His mercy endureth for ever. 

Psalm 136:1

“Thanks to God for My Redeemer”

~August L. Storm~, 1891

Thanks for fair and pleasant springtime
Thanks for dark and stormy fall
Thanks for tears by now forgotten
Thanks for grace, Thy sovereign call

Thanks for roses by the wayside
Thanks for thorns their stems contain
Thanks for home and thanks for fireside
Thanks for hope, that sweet refrain

Thanks for pain, and thanks for pleasure
Thanks for comfort in despair
Thanks for grace that none can measure
Thanks for love beyond compare
Thanks to God for my Redeemer
Thanks for all Thou dost provide
Thanks for blood poured out to save me
Thanks for wounded hands and side

Thanks for prayers that Thou hast answered
Thanks for what Thou dost deny
Thanks for storms that I have weathered
Thanks for all Thou dost supply
Thanks for joy and thanks for sorrow
Thanks that Thou will all redeem
Thanks for hope in the tomorrow
Thanks through all eternity

HT:  A Hymn For Thanksgiving

The Real Pilgrim Story

Journey to Scrooby, A Thanksgiving Pilgrimage

Free Thanksgiving Printables:

Give Thanks

Thanksgiving Cupcake Toppers

Blessed Thanksgiving Banner

Give Thanks Tags

Give Thanks Banner

Family Thanksgiving Activity: The Thanks Giving Tree

Count Your Blessings Card

Notes of Thankfulness

Thanksgiving Printable Activity

Autumn is slipping away and I'm still back in July. With the time change, shorter days and the holidays just around the corner, I won't be able stay there much longer but harvesting my Calendula lets me play a bit longer. Yesterday I harvested Calendula seeds. Yes, I'm already making plans for my garden next Spring.

A couple of weeks ago I posted about harvesting some of my Calendula to learn how to make my own homemade infused Calendula oil with flowers and herbs from my garden. This is my first attempt. I want to use to oil to make my own salve/cream.

All that's needed to make Calendula Oil is: Calendula blossoms, clean jar with lid, scissors (optional) and Olive Oil (or oil of your choice: sunflower oil, almond oil--I used Extra Virgin Olive Oil because it's a pure plant oil and has a longer shelf life at room temperature). This experiment is the "Cold Infusion" method:

Step 1 Pick the new, just in their peak, clean blossoms in the morning AFTER the dew has evaporated and it isn't too warm. They're freshest then. Pinch off or cut off the stems so just the blossom tops remain.

Step 2 Put the blossoms in a clean, dry jar.

Step 3 Pour Olive Oil over the blossom so they are completely submerged. Securely tighten the lid, label and date, store in a warm place 4 to 6 weeks.

Now the waiting begins. They'll gradually shrink and release their wonderful antibacterial, anti-viral and antioxidant properties into the oil. Soon the oil will be ready for the next step.

A bit of History:

Linnaeus assigned a narrower limit to the expansion of its flowers, observing that they are open from nine in the morning till three in the afternoon. This regular expansion and closing of the flowers attracted early notice, and hence the plant acquired the names of solsequia and solis sponsa.

There is an allusion to this peculiarity in the poems of Rowley:
'The Mary-budde that shooteth (shutteth) with the light.'

the above from: A Modern Herbal 

Disclaimer: I am not a certified medical or herbalist professional of any kind and I am not qualified to give any one medical advice. My goal is merely sharing my interests and life; hoping it will perhaps inspire some one else in the beauty of the created natural world and the "Hidden Homemaking Arts" - not to consult any one on medical or herbal treatment.

One Of My Favorite Herbs: Calendula officinalis

October's Birth Flower is the Calendula (Pot Marigold or Poet's Marigold or Mary's Gold), one of my favorites. The name "calendula" comes from the Latin word kalendae, which means the day of the new moon. Our word "calendar" is a derivative. It's really cultivated as a herb and has antibacterial, anti-viral and antioxidant properties. It is also extremely high in A and C vitamins, carotenoids and natural flavonoids, natural iodine, carotene, and manganese, which promote skin cell regeneration. Dried petals are used for making creams, lotions, tinctures, teas and poultices and can help heal burns, cuts, rashes, chapped and/or dry skin and insect bites. But anyone having allergies to plants in the daisy or aster family, including chrysanthemums and ragweed, may also have allergic reactions to Calendula so it would not be good for them.

Right now I have some ready to use to make my own Calendula salve but more on that later. Calendula is one of the EASIEST plants I grow in my garden. It's very tolerant of poor soil and one of the greatest things is that it reseeds itself in the spring.

Even after a couple of hard frosts my Calendula (Orange Zinger and Red Splash) is still blooming. These are photos I took a few days ago in the garden. I have both orange and yellow. They're such sunny, cheerful flowers!

Inside, in a vase, for my windowsill:

". . . the Marigold that goes to bed wi’ th’ sun,
And with him rises weeping . . ."
~William Shakespeare~


Disclaimer: I am not a certified medical or herbalist professional of any kind and I am not qualified to give any one medical advice. My goal is merely sharing my interests and life; hoping it will perhaps inspire some one else in the beauty of the created natural world and the "Hidden Homemaking Arts" - not to consult any one on medical or herbal treatment.

The Pumpkin...

What moistens the lips, and what brightens the eye?
What calls back the past like the rich pumpkin pie?

~John Greenleaf Whittier~ 

"The Pumpkin"

October Is The Month Of Painted Leaves...

"October is the month of painted leaves. 

Their rich glow now flashes around the world. 

As fruit and leaves, and the day itself acquire a bright 

tint just before they fall, so the year near its setting. 

October is its sunset sky. November the later twilight."
~Henry David Thoreau~

Summer Passes Into Autumn...

"That night was the turning point in the season. We had gone to bed in summer, and we awoke in autumn; for summer passes into autumn in some imaginable point of time like the turning of a leaf."
~Henry David Thoreau~

Not far from my home...

The Leaves Are Falling, Falling As If From Far Up...

The leaves are falling, falling as if from far up,

as if orchards were dying high in space.

Each leaf falls as if it were motioning "no."

And tonight the heavy earth is falling

away from all other stars in the loneliness.

We're all falling. This hand here is falling.

And look at the other one. It's in them all.

And yet there is Someone, whose hands

infinitely calm, holding up all this falling.

~Rainer Maria Rilke~

Sunlit Yellow Autumn Days....

Twilight Landscapes

Softly the evening came. The sun from the horizon
Like a magician extended his golden wand o’er the landscape;
Twinkling vapors arose; and sky and earth and forest
Seemed all on fire at the touch and melted and mingled together.
~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow~
from Evangeline

 

Autumn - Winter Reading

Ok, my dear Bibliophile family/friends, here's my stack of books for my Autumn-Winter 2012-13 Reading. What are all of you reading? 

Autumn is continuing to be more colorful every day. My husband and I are enjoying our walks at our neighborhood part where there are beautiful Mums in my favorite color: YELLOW!!!

Catching Up & Some Art From Claudine Hellmuth's Online Class

I'm way behind but I wanted to post some of the art I did for Claudine Hellmuth's online composition class back in August. I really enjoyed her class and she is a wonderful teacher, very easy to talk with. She views each comment, art piece and gives her thoughts and ideas.

"Spring Is Here"

"You and Me"

"On the Alert for Spring"

"Spring Beauty"

"Awful Tired of Keeping Still"

"Sundry Persons"

My sis is doing better, I'm settling in at my new job and now I'm doing some Autumn cleaning, getting back to routine again. It's starting to be a beautiful Autumn in my area. Happy Autumn!

Autumn & Pumpkin Season Is Upon Us!!!

I haven't had any time to post or work on my art. My dear sis has been in the hospital with heart problems needing stints and pacemaker. So between helping her, my 82 year old mother and keeping up with my new job I have limited time. There are many difficult decisions ahead to make about my Sis and Mom's living arrangements, the possibility of moving them to a place closer to me, tons of work to help them move if that is necessary. The beautiful season of Autumn and pumpkins is upon us....changing again. I hope to return soon. :-)

Claudine Hellmuth's Online Composition Class Week 1

Last week I started Claudine Hellmuth's online composition class at Big Picture Class. It's my first online class and I am enjoying it very much. Claudine shares techniques for creating better composition in collage and art work. Her class includes printable transcripts, audio/video lessons, many wonderful images to download to experiment with and a message board to talk with her and the other participants. It's so fun to see all the other collages. Already I am looking at my art differently. I'm going back and looking at older pieces to see ways they could have been better too.

With starting my new job it's taking me a bit longer but I finally finished my "asymmetrical" collage homework for her class. I titled it "Tomato Preserves" - the photo of the lady is Claudine's but I had some images of tomatoes, canning jars, inventory sheet that worked well. I've been wanting to make a personal family recipe book so this may very well be the start of it or the cover.

"Tomato Preserves"

The New Direction Is ...

A new job! I start tomorrow with Orientation at 9:00a.m. After eleven months working at a large, well known, one-stop, retail company I'll be working for a smaller, more local (Meijer) but growing retail company, one that I have been trying to get in to for two years! My timing has been off, I'd get my app in just at the tail end when the positions had been filled but they hadn't taken the job off the online site. Around the first week of July I spoke with a couple of employees to find out they were hiring again, updated my application as soon as I got home, just at the right time. I went through my 3 interviews in 6 days, gave my 2 week notice with Aug 5th being my last day. So, once again, I am in transition and will be taking time to adjust to my new job.

On a different note, today I stopped at a thrift store and found a wonderful book, one of my favorite picture books from when my daughters were very young. Richard Scarry's Busy, Busy World, A Giant Golden Book with a copyright of 1971. It isn't in the best of shape, the spine is missing but I couldn't pass it up and I know I won't let go of it. It's a keeper for our home library, even though my girls and I are long past the time for actually sitting down to read Richard Scarry's books! I love the illustrations ...

 

 

 

AND this week I am also starting Claudine Hellmuth's online composition class. Next week I'll be starting my personal history and word study again. Looking forward to some exciting events, my new direction!

Change Of Direction Again!

The past three weeks have been pleasantly eventful and once again passed by all too quickly. My life is taking another direction in just about five days. I haven't had much time for art, my etsy shop is on hold for a while, I've been doing a little bit of decluttering, AND my husband and I are discussing/making some re-arrangement of our retirement plans. The only thing more I can say for now is I'm still hibernating in my air conditioning except for the few days of cooler temps and limiting my time outdoors still in early morning to check on my garden. It's doing great. My Sunflowers have grown 10 to 12 feet high with the flowers just beginning to show. Some of those green heirloom Tomatoes are finally turning into beautiful, orange-red ripe Tomatoes!

I'm counting down the days! 5 days............ 

Evidence Of Garden Growth In 10 Days Time!

The garden has grown at a fantastic rate of speed with my watering and all this heat! This first picture was taken in the morning June 28th, the day before the storm went through. The Sunflowers along the West privacy fence are only a couple feet tall and below the middle wooden cross bar of the fence. The dwarf Sunflowers in the flower pots in bottom right of photo are barely noticeable among the Violas. The Tomatoes in the Circular Square Foot Garden are about even in height as the Sunflowers:

This picture below was taken just a few minutes ago, only ten days later. I haven't been able to sit out on my back patio until today. Finally there's a brief, bit of relief from the heat! The Sunflowers along the West privacy fence are around five to five and a half feet tall! The dwarf Sunflowers in the flower pots in bottom right of photo are about two feet tall towering over the Violas. The Tomatoes in the Circular Square Foot Garden are about four to five feet tall now:

How grows your garden?