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 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

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

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…

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*

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…

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

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

*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

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…

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

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