~*~Deck The Halls~*~

Yes it's beginning to look alot like Christmas around here..... complete with glittered floors, storage boxes abound, and burned out light sets needing to be replaced.  But the good news is I have been putting up a few projects  here and there just to help me feel as though progress IS being made~!~

*~*More White Christmas*~*

Call me crazy, but I have been listening to Christmas Carol's since before we carved our Halloween pumpkins.   My cat Bowie, who I lost just a week ago, had a little bed in my art room, and I think he loved listening to the festive music as much as I do. Somehow he always looked even more content and cozy when   Bing Crosby or Dean Martin played softly in the background.  Yes I miss him dearly.  But create I must, and recently I filled a custom order of  winter white Christmas stockings at my shop, and these are the results.  I love making these stockings.  It gives me a chance to work with my favorite "color",  white,  and my favorite old lace, rhinestones and buttons.  The only thing that could make it better is having my Bowie Cat by my side, softly purring to the music. .

Goodbye Bowie Cat.

They say life can change in an instant, and this certainly isn't just for humans..... the animals in our lives are not strangers to sudden illness, such is the case with our Bowie Cat.  Halloween night will never hold the same fond memories for me.   As we were readying our youngest for trick or treating,  all focus went from her,  immediately over to Bowie.  One minute he was fine and literally the next minute he had lost all use of his back legs and whole back end, spine and all.  I will never lose the image from my head of him dragging himself just before I gently picked him up.  We rushed him to a 24 hour vet and after testing, they determined he had underlying heart disease, and a blood clot that had dislodged.  My heart had already sunk low, but hearing her words to come, put my heart in places it had not been in a long time.  The vet said that 9 times out of 10 when a cat has this happen, it cuts off all blood supply to the back end, and within hours the cat could be dead. She said it is one of the most painful things a cat can go through, but even in his pain he seemed so content to lay in my arms.  Bowie was given a 5- 10  % chance of survival, IF we rushed him to MSU veterinary school and he had surgery to dissolve the blood clot but she reminded us that he would still have a weakened heart already and she highly recommended letting him go without suffering any longer.

So I held him in my arms as he went to sleep, his little head resting in the palm of my hand. We brought him home to bury, with so many of our other creatures. 

 Bowie was my little shadow and followed me wherever I went. He was definitely a cat of routine, and  nightly he would remind me when it was time for bed so he could lay on my lap. Each morning, literally like clockwork, he would jump up into bed seconds after my alarm went off, to nudge me awake  either by poking me gently with a paw, or touching his little nose to my face. Every hour inbetween he was there. 

All I can say is how very very fortunate I feel that we were here at home when it happened. We could have been away for the day, or wake up to him paralyzed in the morning, or worse,  at our cabin for 2 days then come home to him already gone. He would have suffered completely alone., no people who loved him surrounding him.  When I think of that, I remember the words I once gave to a good friend who had just lost a dear pet.... that we need to be thankful for the small things, and let the positive somehow overshadow the negative.  RIP Bowie Cat. 

White Christmas~

My favorite "color" during the winter months is most certainly white.  And off white, and pearl white and eggshell white...... you get the picture!  I am addicted to it, all shades dark and light and inbetween!  Here are some winter white Christmas ornaments I've been working on.  Each one a little different than the next~  Available in my Etsy Shop .

A Visit to The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow....

"Welcome  to one of America's oldest cemeteries.  Dutch tenant farmer's and their 'huisvrows'  Revolutionary War soldiers and the legendary characters of Washington Irving's 'Legend of Sleepy Hollow' are all buried in the graveyard, including the world famous ghost of The Headless Horseman, who, according to legend,  begins his nightly ride here."

One of the highlights of our recent trip to New York was this cemetery.  The history, the peacefulness, and the eerieness all play a part.  Our family has always been fascinated by the story written by Washington Irving, and to see headstones that the story characters were modeled after...I couldn't think of a better thing to see and do just before Halloween!  

White Christmas in October!

Good Grief, I just checked the date of my last blog post and it was way back in August!  I have been sorely neglecting my blog and hope to make up for lost time...... beginning now!   I've been having fun in my work room creating one white Christmas thing after another, and these are my latest creations.... I love the way they turned out and hope you do too!!  

Fun in the Studio~

The annual  Heavenly Scent Herb Farm Summer Faire is quickly approaching (tomorrow to be exact!!) and recently I decided to boost my variety of jewelry I will be selling there, and at my Etsy shop  .  This is what I came up with.... some hand formed heart pendants  embellished with  beautiful antique chain pieces,  tattered ribbon, charms and found objects galore.  Each one is completely one of a kind,  durable and lightweight to wear.

~STUDIOS~ Magazine is Here!

I was recently informed that my art workspace would be published in the fall issue of "Cloth Paper Scissors STUDIO" Magazine, and I'm thrilled to say that it is now on bookshelves.  The lady behind the counter at Barnes and Noble commented on the fact that I was  purchasing 3 copies of the same issue.... with a raised eyelid.  I just nodded and smiled.  I didn't possibly need 4!

"Mind Wide Open" Challenge Returns!

Gail announced it today,  the monthly Mind Wide Open Challenge is back and I for one am anxious to start participating again.  Be sure to check it out~!~

New Wearable Art

Made from some antique pocketwatch cases I recently acquired..... little wearable shadowboxes holding all sorts of found objects.  Making these little gems was so much fun and I couldn't help but wonder what stories the pocketwatch cases had to tell, if only. Who they belonged to, where they may have traveled, what sights they must have seen.  Fascinating little remnants of history.

Mini Heart Art Addiction

With some old  recycled cardboard, some paint ,stamp pads, lace, buttons and a few embellishments ,I have found a new addiction.  Altered mini heart collages.  Each one is so completely different from the next. I love to lay out an assortment of do-dad's and play around with what goes with what.  It also gives me an excuse to stop doing "art" and start making some special embellishments that I always seem to be short on. Especially the tiny paper banners and  photo slide frames. I can't seem to ever get enough of those :)  If I had some more cardboard I just might go and make some more right now!!