Gina’s shades of white…

my turn in the Six Players rotation to work on Gina’s “shades of white” theme…

as some of you may know Gina left this world suddenly near the end of November 2010…

the India pages she created for me are wonderful and so magical…

they were some of the last pieces she made…

starting her white pages was tough for me…

I finally got busy on Tuesday, 8 February not knowing that my sweet Mother had slipped away in her sleep that same morning…she was not discovered under early evening…

I had selected the quote below a few days before as inspiration…

“My soul her wings doth spread
And heavenward flies,
Th’ Almighty’s mysteries to read
In the large volumes of the skies.”~William Habington (1605-1654)

the one thing I had set aside for Gina’s white pages were some white feather wings…

I was thinking ‘white swan’…I {heart} swans…

but when Gina died it quickly turned into an angel’s wing…

Gina had sent punched pages that she glued background onto…

I added a little gesso to these center pages with dictionary background…collaging with fabric and paper…

the dove is a TAP transfer done on thin cotton…

I stamped onto a piece of delicate handkerchief…

added computer generated words…

stitching everything together before gluing it onto the page…

bits of lace…papers and trim sewn onto watercolor paper to create the heart…

the border at the bottom was made with tea dyed lace…

paper flowers with vintage white buttons glued in the centers…

my last page is a collage with a mini trading card…layered netting…gauze…laces and ribbon…

the “HAND MADE” is from a cigar box strip and the daisies are pieces of an old necklace…

my tag for Gina’s Shades of White…

which I made after my mother’s death…

the only new thing I have managed to create so far…

a good friend of Gina’s…Kathy…has kindly stepped in to help finish our Six Players swap…

“It is the color of a dove and in some places a color of mourning.” ~Gina Wise, taken from her beautifully written inspiration letter for her “white” theme to each of the players

Woolly Blooming Heart

Ana’s Friday Archive Dive theme of Woolly this week is the perfect time to show you the gorgeous heart that the sweet and talented Hermine sent to me as a surprise gift…

pictures do not do it justice…the heart itself is about 4.5 inches (11.43 cm)…

when I saw Hermine’s blog post here…I had no idea she was actually sending me the heart…

imagine my delight in opening this surprise all the way from The Netherlands…it is SO amazing and beautiful…

the colors of the wool along with the textures…tiny seed beads each stitched on by hand…

the attention to detail…on both sides is splendid…it is not flat…it blooms on both sides…with the little wool heart hanging freely in the opening…

Hermine was kind enough to share her wool heart tutorial…in Dutch AND English…her creativity is not limited to wool felting…she does SO many kinds of artwork so brilliantly…she’s even a cover girl on a magazine here...

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

please accept my thanks for all of the precious cards…gifts and kind wishes…

blogging used to go pretty smoothly for me…

now I am finding it challenging…

I miss getting around to visit everyone…

I look forward to returning to that “happy” place…

oxoxo

” If your heart is broken, let it be broken open.” ~Alan Cohen

“I can fly”

Wednesday Stamper’s challenge this week

I created this piece at the end of January when I could still feel my wings…thank you Steph for the perfect metal mandala

tea today…

miss you all…

sending every good and special wish your way…

continued heartfelt thanks for your outpouring of Love and kindness…

visit Kimmie for more T Tuesday posts…

“Find yourself a cup; the teapot is behind you…..” ~H.H. Munro (Saki)

tea and gratitude

with Love and gratitude to all…

thank you for encircling our family with Love and Kindness…

your heartfelt words of comfort and good wishes mean so much…

“From your beauty ablaze like the sun,

from the curls of your hair,
My heart has become ecstatic;

O my soul, hand me this brimming cup,
Do not weigh pain and misery,

contemplate love,

contemplate friendship;
Do not mull over tyranny and neglect;

think of all those who have their eyes fixed on you.
Surname all grief “grace”;

transmute pain and anguish into joy,
And ask from joy all happiness,

all security,

all peace.
Demand that security, that peace,

demand them,
Choose the company of those withdrawn in love.
Listen to those who open a path to you:

listen, and don’t say a word.” ~Rumi

Happy T Tuesday Dear Ones ~*~ OXO

in the blink of an eye…

…everything can change…

my sweet Mutti left this world on Tuesday…

8 February…

she went to sleep and never woke up…

not easy to type these words…

even though her passing was sudden…

we are comforted that she did not suffer and that she died in her own comfortable surroundings…

tell someone you Love them…

you never know when it may be the last time they get to hear those words…oxoxo

“And that is dying

By ~Henry Scott Holland

I am standing upon the seashore.
A ship at my side spreads her white sails to the ocean.
She is an object of beauty and strength.
I stand and watch her until at length she hangs like a
speck of white cloud just where the sea and sky come to mingle
with each other.
Then someone at my side says: "There, she is gone!"
"Gone where?"
gone from my sight.  That is all.
Her diminished size is in me, not in her.
And just at the moment when someone at my side says:
"There, she is gone!"
There are other eyes watching her coming,
and other voices ready to take up the glad shout:
"Here she comes!"
And that is dying."

Expressions of Love

this week’s Wednesday Stamper challenge is all about

L-O-V-E…

I Love creating…

playing…

making something out of nothing…

in this case it all began with a child’s board book in the shape of a hand…

I cut little windows in the pages with a razor knife…staggering the sizes..

a little sanding and painting lightly with gesso…

the moody face stamp is a favorite of mine and it fit just right…I cut the opening and then looked for an image…sometimes I get excited and dive into a project…

I used a square of old fashioned wire window screen glued between the two front pages to make a “window”…clamps come in handy for that step … I use gel medium as the glue…

Versafine inks are a favorite of mine…in this case their slow drying time helped to add extra color to the pages…

while my stamped impressions were still damp…I used my finger to gently move the ink around…when it was finally dry…

I added some white highlights with my favorite white poster pen…

more clamping and drying time…

for the covers of the book I used bits of plastic mesh dry wall tape for added texture…

some crackle paint…with lots of layers of paint…

almost finished…still needs a little something something…

the pilot’s stick pin made a nice finish along with the piece of a special curtain from a good friend…

a little gold Krylon pen around the edges and finito…

 

“Love has no desire but to fulfill itself.  To melt and be like a running brook that sings its melody to the night.  To wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving.”  ~Kahlil Gibran

Kandeland Tea

today I am enjoying  a lovely cup of fragrant Organic India Tulsi sweet rose tea … in my German I Love You cup …

the tea is SO delicate and delicious …

thanks to Natalea of Kandeland …

I was the lucky winner of the pretty lady in red…a hanging ornament…from a recent giveaway over at Natalea’s Kandeland “always something sweet to share!” blog…

…isn’t she precious…such a clever design with the little heart on a string under her skirt and perfect touches of bling…

for everything Valentine and lots of sweet inspiration … you’ll want to pop over and visit Natalea…

February is a special month for our family not only because of Valentine’s Day but two very special people in my life were born this month…my beloved Mr Magpie and our precious Alex … our early valentine …

wishing you a sweet February and a Happy T Tuesday before Valentine’s Day…

“the ‘L’ in Love should be capitalized” ~Patty Szymkowicz

wooden ATCs…bien sûr

after soaking the papers off cigar boxes…

I was left with some nice pieces of wood…

Mr Magpie cut 2.5 x 3.5 inch pieces from cigar box wood…a great surface for collage…

a few more pattern tissue bags make perfect ATC holders…

decorated with pieces of my German tea dyed curtains…paper scraps and other lace…bien sûr…

certainly

…I was inspired recently by Lynn at Her Creative Spirit to play with wooden ATCs again…

junkles reveal

...where did December and January go…

thought you might like to see the rest of the junkle ornaments that came in from the Queen Bees swap around the holidays…

I had shown you Linda’s lovely altered tart tin ornament earlier…the shredded text is a perfect touch don’t you think…I really have a thing for bees and bee skeps too…

Nathalie transformed a vintage lightbulb into a twinkling beaded dangle…

great touches of tinsel and “snow” really make it sparkle…

Margaret used bits from an old/vintage bracelet…the silver burst is a bit from an ornament bauble…

other delicate treasures complete this lovely piece…

Carole layered fabric and paper to make a pretty “snippet roll” as she’s named it…held onto a wooden spool with a carpet tack…it unfurls to reveal lots of loveliness…

highlighted with her special stitching…you too can make a snippet roll…she shares how to here...

and here is my thimble bell birdie ornament again…made out of old garland…beads…bird and thimble with a little jingle bell hanging inside…

it is always fun to see where creative people go with a theme…this swap was a real delight and began with inspiration from here!

*Happy Chinese New Year…The Year of the Rabbit*

*Wishing you Sparkling Happiness and Good Fortune this New Year*

WS: Leaves and Pods

Leaves and pods…this week’s Wednesday Stamper/Mittwochstempler challenge got me looking at some of the pressed flowers and leaves I have on hand…

during gardening season I fill my flower press again and again with blooms and leaves and such…

on average it takes about two weeks in the flower press…

4×4 watercolor paper…Paper Whimsy images…scrap papers…dress pattern tissue…tissue tape…gesso…paint…lovely Polish postage stamp…gauze…pressed Raspberry Tansy leaf and Serendipity “Truth” stamp

snow tea

happy February…

we got our first measurable snow fall recently…

won’t you join me in the garden…

for a nice cuppa…

I remember we sat out last August…

with as quickly as time flies…

we’ll be out there again in no time…

wishing you a happy T Tuesday…

pop by Kimmie’s Art in Red Wagons for more tea adventures from around the world