My first handmade journal.....

I finally worked up the courage to make a journal to use as I plant a faerie garden this spring. I like the idea of recording what I plant and how I connect to earth and I decided I didn't want just any old store bought journal so I decided to visit my friend Effy Wild's world where she offers a totally free workshop  called bookbinding 101 that is simply amazeballs. It includes several video's which are so simple to follow. So if you haven't checked her site out yet please do yourself that favor.
I have never attempted this type of thing before but always wanted to. The thing is that I've always quilted and sewed bags and things so I'm so loaded with fabric but did not have a single item I'd need to make a journal so I had to literally start from scratch and now that I've started I already know that I'll have to make a new area in my crafting space for these items as I build my stock up. 
I totally went for the ethereal feel with this journal and used some great ephemra that I have collected over the years so I'm really loving how it turned out. I hope you enjoy the pics:

Have a faerie beautiful day! I'm off to do the inside front page.

And the 2013 ~ 2014 school year commences,,,,,,

Well today was the first day of this school year and the grandchildren that I live with are off and running. So here are introductions:

This is Joey ~ age 11 ~ 6th grade

Huner ~ age 10 ~ 5th grade

Connor ~ age 9 ~ 3rd grade

Teighan ~ age 7 ~ 1st grade

So their all off to school and I've got my spare time back ~ YEAHHH!!!!!

Trying something new......

Ok so I've been really focused on beading my chakra flower set and I decided it was time for a bit of a break so I am trying something new:

Ok so I guess there are some beads still involved but pretty cool anyway. 

This is a bit more involved than one might think. First off a trip to Home Depot for a drill bit. This can't be just any old drill bit because we are using ceramic dishes here so I had to get a Glass & Tile bit.

These are a bit pricey when all I got was one hole drilled and then the bit was to dull for a second hole so I'm going to have to do some investigating and brain picking at Home Depot when I go to get another bit.

Here are the cup & saucers for this project:

So as you can see I still need to do 5 more holes and if I can't get more holes than one per drill bit then it becomes a bit cost prohibitive with the bits being $6.87 per bit. 

Here are the cups & saucers that I will use and the other 3 will go to my long time (55 years) friend, Patti.

If anyone has done this before and has any suggestions I welcome all thoughts on this.

Life takes it's own turns.....

I'm one of those people that is happy to stay home and be creative, unless of course I need to go to Michael's, Hobby Lobby, or some awesome bead shop but on occassion one must do what one must do. Well this was one of those weekends, I had my grandson for the summer and with school on the horizon I had to return him to Iowa this weekend which of course meant no blogging for me. So I started beating myself up for even signing up for this blog~a~long but then I thought to myself,,,,I've blogged a lot more than I would have otherwise so I decided I'd show up when life allowed me to and when it had other plans for me I'd just roll with the punches.

Well one thing I can do on my phone while traveling is surf the net and since I'm fixing to do my back deck and flower bed I decided to find some fun deck items that I could make myself and this, this is something that I can make myself and I also have access to bunches of free pallets, free is always good.

I also found this fun DIY that will be just perfect as stepping stones in my fairy garden. I'll be doing the stepping stones in the colors of the sea.

So even though I was traveling I was still able to channel some creativity into this trip. Now to get busy making it all happen.

Blessings from my granddaughter.....

I am feeling very loved and very blessed today. My 19 year old granddaughter knows that I am making the chakra flowers so she purchased a book for my kindle today.

I love that she thinks of these things all on her own just because. Somehow the just because giftings touch my spirit much more than a birthday or Christmas gift. I'm driving up to Iowa this weekend to take my grandson home and I'll get to go see her new house she just moved into. I think one of my bird feeders should be hanging in her yard!

A day late and a dollar short......

Yeap that's me,,,lol. It rained and thundered and lighteninged here all day and the electric was off several times so like someone with wisdom I unplugged for the day,,,literally. The tv's the computer anything that might get zapped. So I sat here and beaded, sorted some of my totes that I just moved here from Iowa and found all my quilt tops that are in need of quilting. I finished up my Throat Chakra flower:

I also finished the bottom layer of my Heart Chakra flower:

I also made some bird feeders which my grandson, Connor (9) helped me with. 

This is the bottom part which holds the bird seed.

And I might as well share a couple of the quilt tops I pulled out that I'll be quilting here in the next week or two.

This one Connor calls "Giddy Up Go" and it will go on his bed.

This one is a "Fun In The Sun" and I've made several of these to place in my etsy boutique once I finish them up. 

So as you can see sometimes unplugging can be quite beneficial. All in all I had a really good day.

I always love when I check my mail and find something amazing in it that really speaks to my inner feminine. This morning I found that magic in a email from Jo Anna Rothman and I just had to share it with all you lovely ladies. Perhaps it will hit that sacred spot in some of you and you'll be moved to do a page/spread on it.

In Praise of the Feminine

I love the way my hips move as I walk. Open. Free.
Inviting.  There is a spaciousness in me. In my ways.
In my being.
It is wide. Wild. Untamed.
It is kind. And loving. Made of electricity.
Of blood.
Of life.
Seen only when we enter into that space.
Walk through the fire and stand in the pathway.
It is not always clear. Or right.  Or direct.
It just is.  It flows. Meanders.
Knowing that pointlessness is of value.
No struggle for meaning.
It is an invitation. Open. Endless.
An invitation to enter the sacred.  To enter the palace of pleasure.
Where beauty if crafted.
It is an invitation be where ever we are in whatever moment this happens to be.
Where the world will be created. And others will fill it.
It is home.
It doesn’t fight to be seen. Or heard.
There is strength. Constant.
There is power in letting the walls of the masculine move aside.
Knowing that they are there when we let them.
Knowing that they are there when we need them.
In an instant we can feel the support.
Or we be the openness.
The space where ideas rise up from earth
Where rock us as they make their way through to the doing place.
This is where we let them go.
Where we let the other energies of our nature guide them into their own space of being.
And we come back to the vibrant center of our creative wonders.
Swinging our hips back and forth to the tune of our making.

I just had to do some searching for a picture to go with it and this is what I came up with:

I'm thinking that I will do a spread on this myself once I finish setting up my creative space and get all my art supplies unpacked and put in their places. We'll see!