Oh Christmas Tree.....

We finally put up our tree Sunday night. It's a lovely wee tree, a sister tree to Charlie Brown's  :)

This year we added purple & gold lights, and this is also the first year we had our son decorate it alone. He did a fine job too ! I added the vintage party hat ( we had about 30 of these wonderful vintage hats from when my dad worked at the Empress Hotel in Victoria. I stubbornly held onto them but finally gave them away through a Freecycle site --happy knowing someone else will actually use them. This silver hat with the pom poms is my most fav., it makes me think of the mime Pierrot )

If I don't post again before the joyous holiday, then may you all have a most wonderful laughter filled day full of love. A Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all !

Birds and Bounty....

I so love looking out our sundeck doors and watching the birds fatten up for Winter. I've got to get myself another feeder to replace the suet holder ( just behind the squiggly branch ). I'll prob. 'tie' the suet holder in between the two arms, so that will mean more birds will be able to enjoy more food.
The plate is temporary, I wanted to see if the birds would actually feed off of it. Right now there's some ripe pear smeared with peanut butter and sprinkled with bird seed. It seems to be quite a hit !

The main birds so far are: red breasted nuthatch's ( love the racing stripes on their heads ! ), chickadees and others I don't know the name or just can't recall right now ( I think the black-headed birds, one on sundeck floor, is called a Towhee ).

They have their ranks & sometimes squabbles, but it's still such a joy watching them with a big mug of hot tea. A great way to wake up !

And this whimsical pic. is showing off our really small bounty of apples this year :P We've only been in our new house for a year, last year the tree was full of apples & I was able to make quite a few pies. BUT, we also have a full pear tree and a couple of days ago we picked quite a few, with the hopes that they will ripen this year ( we picked too early and they stayed rock hard ). Our toes are crossed, hoping to be able to make some tarts or whatever else is tasty in the way of pear treats.

And dontcha love the pumpkin bowl lol !! I found it at Michaels last year & could not resist it's whimsical face and wobbly googly eyes. It's a Dept.56 item ( just noticed the insignia last week ).

The pinecones fell, along with many others, from our neighbors pine tree. The smell is wonderful ! I am so looking forward to collecting fallen pine and cedar branches too, they're so Christmassy to me & make tealights in glittery red glass votives so festive.

Now back too arting, what's new :)

Doodles to ACEOs, I've got the fever !

Hello everyone :) May I suggest you DON'T overindulge on Smokehouse Almonds ? I had a few too many on Wed. and my oh my, Thursday morning 6 a.m. came super fast and I was sick all day, blech ! I'm guessing my body couldn't handle all the salt and that I was bad and didn't drink any water. It was quite a gross feeling but I'm back to feeling about 98% normal ( the tummy is still making a few weird gurgly noises but thankfully that's all it's doing ).

Anyhooo, thought I'd show off what I've been doing the last few days. You've already seen my 'doodling' in the previous post and I'm showing them off again. I've decided they look more like ACEOs than doodles and have changed the section in my Etsy shop from Little Doodles to ACEO Doodles ( or something like that ).

And there's another one here that is unfinished, called 'Fly My Love'. For this one I'm going a little further than my markers and adding a touch of acrylic paint with a wash effect. It should be done by Monday ( weekends are for the family ).

Pricing these little art pieces is difficult. And that I am not one of those artists who can paint lifelike or has art certificates/awards on my walls, well, confidance needs to kick in big time. Oh sure, the people/animals I draw have a very juvenile look but that is the way they come out for me.

It's all about the fun tho, the colors, the energy they create. Just like my Charmblies and shrink collages, they are made with joy, with life, and more will be gracing my Etsy shop :)

Creamed Soda and Collages....

Yay it is finally Spring ! Today was quite sunny, so I poked my head outside and let the rays fall across my delighted face.

I had bought a bottle of Cream Soda for our son and his friend, meant to give it to them 2 days ago but had left it in the car trunk ! I remembered today :)
Now pop is not one of my fav. drinks, I'm more of a chocolate milk gal. But if I do want 'sugar water' then it's usually Cream Soda. It has that wonderful rich pinky-red coloring and reminds me of carnivals.

Here are a couple pics. you can use. One was shot while looking into the glass. The bubble blobs are from me trying to add cherry candy flavoring, just to see what would happen. Well the flavoring didn't mix in, but it smelled oh so wonderful and looked quite pretty floating on top.
The next image was taken simply because of the sun shining through the glass, love that color !

Woohoo, here are two of my computer created collages I've made into shrinky dink pendants. They're now in my Etsy shop along with 3 other collages. I'm having so much fun making these and can't wait for Monday to come so I can get more printed and baked.
Each collage uses images from my computer collection along with other items I've scanned into the computer --vintage papers, photos, 3-dimensional bits and pieces and more. Some collages also have my own photos.
They are all carefully created and meant to be dreamlike, whimsical or just plain weird lol !
I'm still wondering about the ballchain that comes with the pendant. Maybe I'll offer either a ballchain or a black satin slide knot necklace ( for those who have a chain of their own, are allergic to certain metals or just aren't into ballchains/cords ).

I hope you like my new pendants :) Thanks for stopping in ♥

Latest project & new delights

My car needed it's checkup yesterday, so while it was getting done I decided to walk to downtown and checkout my 2 fav. shops in Chinatown. Oh my such a pretty mug, had to add to my ever growing tea mug collection. This one sports a lid to keep in all that lovely hot flavor AND a removeable infuser for the loose tea, handy and pretty :) The pennant was found among many other glittered pennants, but they sported children and fans, I fell in love with this glittery koi one. Had to get some lucky money envelopes too, they're going to be used for some special treasurers. After that it was a refreshing walk back in the wind, grabbed a Tim Hortons latte, read my book for an hour and then got the car.

Today I worked on one of my Etsy ideas, a whimsical paper dolly which I plan to make more of and use with my other ideas. I think my 'ideas' are coming together nicely and I'm hoping to get 'them' listed within 2 weeks. Think 'whimsical' 'cute' 'fun'.....

Day to Day Joys I'm Thankful for....

The kitchen window is one of my fav. places to be in front of. The scenery wakes me up & ready for the day ahead, the birds flitting to and fro in the trees, the lone squirrel perfectly balanced on the chain link fence with a found treasure in its paw or mouth. Every season is easily seen and enjoyed immensely. I'm thankful my eyes can take in this beauty and never tire of it.

After breakfast I usually make a pot of tea, today it was Raspberry Earl Grey with a bit of sugar and hint of skim milk, very yummy :) That's one of my many fav. big mugs and my dear moms teapot and kettle. I'm thankful to enjoy the taste of this satisfying sweet delight and to share it with my husband, son and friends.

The plate is dinner size and was one of those things I really did not need, but I LOVE cardinals and couldn't resist ( besides, it was on sale ). We don't have cardinals here on Vancouver Island, yet they've always been such a beautiful eye-catching bird. Other fav. birds are ravens/crows/chickadees/owls/finches and many more. The Albatross is another one but none over here. I'm thankful to have this fluffy flitting wildlife around me, even if a few of these birds can only be enjoyed in pictures.

My journal, recently purchased from one of my fav. stores in Sidney B.C. ~Cameron Rose~ . The artist & designer is ~Anahata Joy Katkin~ another favored artist, I even purchased a slice of her pink blossoms & birds wrapping paper which is going to be made into a magnet board.

Usually I don't create with the need for drawings, etc...but when I saw this beautiful journal, well I could not resist. Now it comes with me almost everywhere ! I've actually drawn ideas, written ideas, thoughts and more. I find plain paper tends to kill off the urge to create, but now this book has greatly helped bring art back to life :) The glittery blue pen was a gift from a sweet friend, goes so nice with the journal. I'm thankful to be able to write and draw out my feelings, to keep something of me to pass on to my son and his family.

These are just a few things I'm thankful for.......what about you ?

Emotional

Don't feel like writing much except to say my parents home sold today. You would think I'd be full of joy, but instead I'm feeling rather blue.
It was my home too until I got married, so of course there's so many memories. But I knew I would feel this way once it was sold because now i really do have to say goodbye to it. My heart aches so much.

But there is a bright side. The people that purchased the house have moved from Alberta and were spa owners. I 'think' they may be opening a spa there, I'm not sure but what a great idea for the house ! I am so curious about what ideas they have for the home that I'm going to ask if I could meet with them. For so many years I've dreamed about the house getting updated, my mom and dad were stuck in the 70s and early 80s and I think that's one of the big reasons why it took 3 months to sell.

Well I must say that writing it out has made me feel better :)

Enough about the new owners, we have until the 30th to get all remaining stuff out of the house, so we will be moving our bums big time.
On the last day I will go around the house and give thanks and say my good byes. Oh great, now I'm all teary eyed again :(

On a brighter note, tomorrow I'm meeting my birthfather Terry for the first time, along with his sister Andy and maybe even another sister Shaun, woohoo !
What can I say except that I believe my parents spirits have helped with this wonderful turn of events :)

Now I'm off to relax and give myself time for these emotions to settle down.

Take care all ♥