“Fears and tears”

Pat of Artfully Ooglebloops made me do it …

I joined the Sketchbook Project 2012 World Tour back in the fall of last year…

for a while there with me out of commission for almost two months and trying to make it through the holidays I did wonder if I would be ready for the 31 January mailing deadline…

I chose the “Fears and Tears” theme from the list of available themes without too much thought…

the first thing I knew I wanted to do was glue some pages together and collage the remaining pages with lots of old torn text…

thanks to Margaret…

for the vintage French page with men in their hammocks which reminded me of butterfly cocoons…

when I saw the F.E.A.R. quote above on Kathy Maximo‘s Facebook page I knew it needed to go into my book…

I have always thought of fear as the opposite of Love…

it just so happens that my centerfold pages have the one real sketch I did of my Secret girl…

dare I say that she looks a bit better in person…

the page is bent open a bit giving her an odd angle…

thanks to Nathalie for that vintage rubber Secret stamp and to Michelle Lum Ho for the perfect ’13′ stamp too…

I am a total novice at drawing and sketching …

Pat assured me it was OK and that ‘anything goes‘ for this project …

sketched or not …

she participated last year and does draw beautifully…

she had her book digitalized which is a great idea since the books become part of the Brooklyn Art Library and are not returned to the artists…

I am happy with how my pages came together even with hardly any sketching…

finding the right words was a great starting point…

I did sketch in the left hand side of the red lips (big whoop *ggg*)…

it was a partial image to begin with…

I stitched a tea bag on the left filling it with tiny paper stars and a Lunaria seed pod that I wrote ‘Love’ on…

my favorite German gold flimmerstern made the perfect burst behind a postage stamp…

the LOVE stamp on the back cover was the one we used to mail our wedding invitations back in 1981…

I enjoyed this creative process and marveled at how random words and phrases and meanings appeared through the gesso and paint without me consciously focusing on that happening…

thank you Pat for encouraging me to take part …

I said my goodbyes and my book is on its way …

what an amazing project the Brooklyn Art Library is in the midst of…

massive and most impressive …

“What will survive of us is Love” ~ Philip Larkin

doodling about…

first I want to thank the always generous and kind Estivalia for coming to my rescue yet again…

she made it possible for my word of the year “Balance” to be on my sidebar AND she also got the Tea on Tuesday widget working for me…

thank you thank you sweet Estivalia!!!

lots is going on here in our Magpie’s Nest…

we are in the midst of clearing out …

always it seems…

but now more earnestly than ever…

we are also in the process of replacing some carpet that has long outlived its usefulness…

 as you may know all of that is hard work so in the evenings I have been relaxing by doing a bit of doodling…

nice mindless escape…

I am a bit of a lazy doodler using my favorite ‘easy’ marks…

clearing out is a process much like doodling taking one step at a time…

“It is not how much you do, but how much (L)ove you put into the doing that matters.” ~Mother Teresa   OXO

“heart” story tea…

last Tuesday was moving day for our youngest son…

he is now back in his favorite college town where the pace is a bit slower than here in the DC Metropolitan area and hopefully a job will be a little easier to find…

seeing him drive off with all of his belongings stuffed into his car was bittersweet while knowing that it was time for him to move forward…

about an hour after I was rattling around here in the empty nest (mind you we are each enjoying our new freedom) the postman knocked on the door and delivered a package…

the always thoughtful and sweet Sue of My Arts Desire (who I REALLY miss in blogland) totally surprised me with special {heart} gifts and I wanted to share the beautiful story and gifts with you today…

I sat down with my cup of tea and the camera to see what Sue was up to…

her notecard was written on “Jan. 13, 2012″ …

here is a recap of some of what Sue wrote:

while she was rummaging through a box of goodies she had stuffed away she came across something she’d purchased earlier in the summer to send to me…

she wrapped the framed piece (reveal to follow) in a piece of wonderful hand stitched quilt top and tied it with some pretty hand dyed ribbon and promptly got distracted by her day…

you know how it is…

you pass by the kitchen sink and decide to take care of the dishes…

then the dog needs some outdoor time and so on…

 in the middle of that Sue felt the urge out of nowhere to visit my blog …

she hasn’t posted on her blog since last summer so this was quite significant too…

it happened to be the day of my “13″ post remembering our Alex…

Sue has a heart of gold and said how moved she was by the Tracy Chapman song and what I had shared in my blogpost…

she figured out that the swan she picked up at a great bargain (25% off the lowest price…that’s why she left the sticker on) was about 200 days before…

so what were the chances that on this day …

well you know …

we both believe there really are no coincidences in this life …

to quote Sue just a bit here: “…In my world and way of thinking it happened for a reason.  I would like to believe it was a message sent straight from heaven to you, from your precious boy, Alex, saying “I miss and love you too…”

WOW…

Yes and thank you both for touching my heart and Mr Magpie’s SO sweetly!!!

wishing one and all a really special T Tuesday…

be sure and visit Kimmie for not necessarily just tea…

“Pfaffing” around …

well not really…

here is what the Urban Dictionary says about “phaffing”:

1. phaffing …….. Activity that looks (to the casual observer) like work (or another task) but is not really all that productive, and in fact may be time wasting. Is usually used this way: “phaffing around” Eg “I’m just phaffing around, really.” or “He looks busy but he’s just phaffing around”.

I have heard friends from other countries use the term and couldn’t help but use the word playfully here…

my phaffing has to do with my mother’s 1950′s German PFAFF sewing machine…

state of the art and a bit of a splurge for my parents back in the day…

I remember many a weekend leaning against the wall watching excitedly as my mom sewed new outfits for me…

we were quite overwhelmed last year clearing out my parents family home…

what to keep …

what to let go of …

I am so happy that Mr Magpie urged me not to let my Mutti’s sewing machine go…

it came in a handsome blond wood cabinet that we did not have room for so we passed that along to someone that needed a sturdy stand…

the machine sat on our living room floor patiently waiting to be taken for a spin all this time…

back in the seventies my Mother bought me a Singer sewing machine that I have used on and off over the years…

lately I sew as much paper as I do fabric…

my Singer had been acting up even after its latest checkup…

the repairman said it sounded like a mac truck…

we plugged in my Mutti’s Pfaff and it took off like a race car…

it purrs and runs smoothly making beautiful stitches…

I will be donating my old Singer to charity and let someone else fiddle with the stitch tension…

the Pfaff is a keeper and it feels wonderful sewing with an angel on my shoulder…

thank you my sweet Mutti…

this was my first sewing machine (a toy) and my Mutti and I are having a go…

she was not only a fabulous seamstress…

she cut hair too…see my bangs

I forgive you Ma XOX

*footnote:  Sweet Natalea is having a heart giveaway this weekend*

surprise tea…

very glad you could stop by for tea today…

on a recent visit to my acupuncturist she recommended that I drink some medicinal tea every day for 4-5 weeks to help balance the medication I need to be on for an extended period of time…

one patient’s reaction to the taste of the Dandelion Tea was that it was “like licking the bottom of an ashtray” …

WHAT!

even after that less than tempting review I still wanted to give the tea a try before resorting to taking another pill as the dandelion root does come in capsules as well as tea…

I am VERY happy to report that it is not bad at all …

I found it to be more like the description on the box:  “A pleasant roasted taste, sweet and slightly bitter.”

just fine with or without honey…

different strokes for different folks I guess…

I’ve had some other very nice surprises recently as well…

imagine my delight when this beautiful swan book arrived all the way from Singapore…

 Steph of Purple Lotus Art creates THE most beautiful collages and sketches and more…

I have already carefully soaked the lovely postage stamps off of the envelope to use in collage…

another wonderful surprise came from Judy of Apron Strings…

she was offered a free magazine subscription and signed me up  to receive a year of Vegetarian Times…

SO thoughtful and generous and much appreciated…

I have received two issues so far and each one is packed with information and inspiration which will definitely help me be a bit more creative in the kitchen …

WordPress also surprised me and all of its customers with this generous gift…here is what they said:

“To celebrate the New Year we’ve decided to offer you more space for your precious media.

Your space upgrade has been increased without any additional cost for you as follows:

5GB -> 10GB

Your total available space has been automatically updated and as you can see in your Media Library.

You now have a total of 13GB.”

isn’t that great…thank you WordPress…you Rock too!!!

wishing you a very happy T Tuesday full of sweet surprises…

2011 in review compiled by WordPress

“The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

The Louvre Museum has 8.5 million visitors per year. This blog was viewed about 120,000 times in 2011. If it were an exhibit at the Louvre Museum, it would take about 5 days for that many people to see it.

Click here to see the complete report.”

interesting to click around on the report and see percentages and where people are visiting from…

Many thanks to WordPress and to all of you lovely visitors and special friends that commented for helping make my Magpie’s Nest a really special part of my life…

I appreciate your time … energy and continued support SO very much! 

The numbers are interesting but it is the chance to connect with so many caring and creative people that brings me great joy and fills my heart again and again with gratitude…OXO

… 13 …

thirteen years now since our precious Alex left this world …

he was born on the 13th of February 1982 …

he crossed over on the 13th of January 1999 …

exactly one month away from his seventeenth birthday…

which is now his spirit birthday as we have heard it called…

… 13 years gone …

more than 4,745 days without our boy here to hug…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvC77iWO648

I watched Rabbit Hole with Nicole Kidman last year and parts of this dialogue helped put words to some of what I feel these many years down the road…

Becca: Does it ever go away?
Nat: No, I don’t think it does. Not for me, it hasn’t – has gone on for eleven years. But it changes though.
Becca: How?
Nat: I don’t know… the weight of it, I guess. At some point, it becomes bearable. It turns into something that you can crawl out from under and… carry around like a brick in your pocket. And you… you even forget it, for a while. But then you reach in for whatever reason and – there it is. Oh right, that. Which could be awful – not all the time. It’s kinda…
[deep breath]
not that you’d like it exactly, but it’s what you’ve got instead of your son. So, you carry it around. And ….. it doesn’t go away.

Which is…
Becca: Which is what?
Nat: Fine, actually.

our Alex is with us everywhere we go and in everything we do…

forever young…XOXOXO

Heart Journal 2012 … a new challenge blog

there is a brilliant new monthly challenge with some fabulous inspiration from the talented Thealie and Lilibule that you will not want to miss here…

*footnote: as the Heart Journal Challenge is a French blog you can click on the Google Translation feature at the top of their blog*

I have always had a fondness for hearts so this challenge really speaks to me…

the January challenge calls for using some masking tape and wire in your heart…

I chose wire mesh …

it’s been some time now since I’ve participated in a challenge…

I started by tearing pieces of masking tape and sticking them onto the heart…

with lots of layers of paint…

copper mesh tears like fabric and when heated with a heat tool it gets a nice patina to it…

the tag is cut from a piece of cardstock that I played with some time ago using a doily and thick gesso and more sloshes of paint as my friend Margaret likes to say…

I may want to do more finishing on the backs of my hearts…but for now I am happy to have made something…

to find out the particulars of the January challenge you can visit here…

“In a full heart there is room for everything, and in an empty heart there is room for nothing.” ~Antonio Porchia

tea cozy tea

hello and happy T day…

while we were at the Aylesbury Tea Room recently I treated myself to a sweet reversible tea cozy  made by the lovely and talented Jessica…

it fits perfectly over the stainless steel tea pot I picked up in Ireland some years ago…

Jessica puts elastic in the bottom so you can just pop it over the tea pot and boy does it ever keep the tea piping hot …

my cup of decaf Irish Breakfast tea really hit the spot this chilly morning looking out at what’s left of a bit of snow we got late yesterday…

the lovely and talented Hermine is having a brilliant giveaway that you won’t want to miss …

her art is wonderful and we share a fondness for hearts…

for more T Tuesday stops be sure and visit Kimmie at her Art in Red Wagons…

where did the time go…

the last two months of 2011 really slipped away from me…

as I am now finally feeling much much better I didn’t want to miss the chance to share a lovely Queen Bee 5 holiday swap with you…

here are the special handmade creations that I received from around the globe…

Linda’s bee skep shaker…

Margaret’s altered matchbox…

Nathalie’s china doll leg pin cushion…

and Carole’s  snowman…

each one a real delight…

below are the wool and lavender hanging sachets I made…

luckily I got these finished and in the mail early …

each white wool bird ‘feather’ was cut out and stitched on one by one…

I enjoy making the wire and bead bird nests so much that I am always happy when I think of a new way to use them…

one of the things I did get to do this holiday season was bleach and dye bottle brush trees …

so while I had my jar of dye handy I threw in some silk ribbon and odds and ends of white linen and doilies…

thanks to generous Leiann Quesnel and Fran Podlesney in our local altered arts group for sharing their die cut machines and to Susan Godby and all the gals for their inspiration and support…

I baked my first batch of cookies yesterday…

in a ‘normal’ Christmas season I would have baked many different kinds…

sometimes things don’t turn out quite like we plan…

“Be content with what you have, rejoice in the way things are.  When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you.” ~Lao Tzu

Aylesbury Tea Room

one of the things Mr Magpie and I did to ring out 2011 was to go out for tea to our favorite local tea spot in nearby Leesburg, Virginia…

they serve THE hottest cups of delicious Yorkshire tea thanks in large part to Mrs Busy B Jessica’s hand stitched tea cozies…

their scones and tea sandwiches are perfection as well…

Mr Magpie and I dove right into the sandwiches on the top tier so no photo of those for you here…

but lookie look who was there to greet us…

I have featured Aylesbury on my blog before here and here … it really is the best spot for a proper traditional tea in our immediate area and for a really fair price…

here’s wishing you a Happy first T Tuesday of 2012…

be sure and visit Kimmie for more tea stops…

“Happiness is a place between too little and too much.” ~Unknown

Wishing you a Bright and Happy New Year

at New Year and always…

may Peace and Love fill your heart…

may beauty fill your world

and contentment and Joy fill your days…

I wish you happiness and the Brightest of Blessings and good health in 2012…

enjoy your beautiful creative life and thank you for being here OXO

2011 Tea Tuesday Review …

it has been another special year of friendship and sharing with thanks to our T Tuesday host Kimmie of Art in Red Wagons and all of the other participating bloggers each week…

my traveling tea cup got to visit some wonderful places too…

even if you have not had time to comment please know that I really do appreciate you stopping by when you can…

all of you that do comment and share certainly help make Tuesdays extra special…

here’s looking ahead to 2012 for another great year of exploring … sharing … and connecting

“Open your heart – open it wide, someone is standing outside.” ~Mary Engelbreit

a bit of magic…

“What is Christmas?  It is tenderness for the past, courage for the present, hope for the future. 

It is a fervent wish that every cup may overflow with blessings rich and eternal, and that every path may lead to peace.”  ~Agnes M. Pahro

Many thanks to each of you for helping make my world bigger and brighter…

full of creativity…

kindness

 and so much more…

Brightest of Holiday Blessings to One and All ~*~ OXO

here is a bit of magic for you…

*HAPPY WINTER SOLSTICE*

Tea with glimmers of Light…

thanks to Photofunia I have a very special virtual cuppa tea…

you too can have your favorite image transposed onto a pretend cup by visiting the Photofunia link underlined above…

little did we know that this photo of my Mutti (Mom) taken at our 2010 Christmas celebration would be her last Christmas…

now seems like a good time to share the last quote of the year from my “Angel Spirits” The Art of Sulamith Wulfing 2011 Calendar:

“Joy often comes in small quiet moments, unexpected, a glimmer of light within the darkness of winter.  When joy comes to you, will you open your heart to receive it?  That is all it takes – the willingness to say yes, the readiness to be surprised by joy.” ~Spirit of Joy, December 2011

wishing each of you a very happy T Tuesday…

may your holidays be filled with many shimmering glimmers of Light and may you be surprised by Joy again and again…

see you next time for tea the day after Boxing Day when I hope to do a sampler of this year’s tea posts similar to what I did last year…

also…the winners of my SEW Somerset Magazine giveaway are here

a winter gift…

in clearing out my parents attic earlier this year we came upon this great old wooden cabinet with a glass door measuring 19″ … 48.26cm tall x 11″ … 27.94cm wide at the widest…

any story that went with it is now lost…

was it a clock cabinet perhaps from my father’s boyhood home in Nebraska…

maybe something he planned to repair…

I had to rescue it…

just because…

there has been a lot of quiet time recently to sit and ponder what I might do with it…

white trees that I dyed in some old loose black tea were a beginning element along with shredded book text…

using Martha Stewart’s Fringe Scissors was good and challenging exercise for my hands…

I tucked in a weathered clock face that my dear friend Lennie Stimpson picked up at The Cottage for me along with an old fan that wants to shatter every time you look at…

back in the day I collected unpainted German pewter ornaments…

I resisted the newer painted versions for the longest while…

I will show you my first painted ornament in a future post

(read in a whisper…it’s a swan)…

back to my altered cabinet…

to reflect the ‘seasons and the passage of time’ I added the moon and stars…

the recycled “A Winter Gift” sign made me think of the many winter birthdays in our family…

the real beauty of this cabinet is that the things I added are temporarily attached…

a reminder of the impermanence of things…

it can be changed with the seasons…

“Lately, the world felt fragile, like a blown egg, as if it might shatter beneath a careless touch.” ~Kim Edwards, “The Memory Keeper’s Daughter”