Decorating Re-Do's

Finally, in our small old house, after 3 out of 4 of our  kids moving out, we are able to have a guest room. It was a long time coming, but worth the wait.  Some peeks into what I have been up to lately.  

Stretched Too Thin~

Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter, Etsy Groups, Blogger, where do we draw the line on social media? As hard as it is to  stay away from my blog, it is equally as hard to find the time to post here,  and lately my posts have been few and far between.  Please do not take this personally,  all of you faithful followers!  No, no, no.  I still enjoy following fellow artists and admirers and staying in tune with what is being created in your studios, and also love showing off what is being created in mine. But  because of the lack of time, some things have taken front seat, and others have taken back seat.  For that reason, I am asking you to please visit my page at Facebook ( QueenBe Mixed Media Art ) so you won't miss a beat on my sales, promotions, creations, ideas and thoughts.  I will still occasionally visit my blog, afterall, it was my first born of social media and I am not about to abandon it entirely.  But until those random and occasional posts continue,  please stop by and see me at Facebook!

Thinking Spring~!~

My tastes seem to be leaning towards soft, Spring colors lately!  I've been sewing up a storm layering, sorting and assembling some fabric collages that are really making me anxious for warmer, sunnier weather.  Michigan is definitely not known for warm sunny winter days, so until the real thing moves in, I will have to settle for these bright, "sunny" pieces.

Wire Wrapping~ New Year, New Projects!

My blog has been sorely neglected lately.  It seems I spend more of my online time at Pinterest, and of course listing at Etsy so I guess blogland has taken back seat, but I still do enjoy updating here once in a while!  This new year I have some projects in mind, and  the first one I tackled was teaching myself the art of wire wrapping. I've been attracted to it for some time, and after some great but simple tutorials on it, I think I managed to pick up a trick or two.  Here are some finished bracelets, available in my Etsy shop~

~*~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.