WOYWW #369

Good Wednesday all my crafty friends!!! Woot Woot!! I'm supes excited because TOMORROW, I go camping!!! Anybody who has read my blog for a minute KNOWS that we are a camping family and camping is my ALL TIME FAVORITE THING TO DO!!!  Have I just spoken a heresy????????? LOLOLOL I DO LOVE ART and it is right behind camping! LOLOL Of course, the IDEAL situation would be to be camping and arting FULL TIME!!  Alas, I still have "teens," so it's off to work I go!!! 

So its WOYWW #369 and I will be brave and share my messy desk today!  If you would like to join along you can go to Lunch Lady Jan's website who is filling in for Julia who has been recovering from surgery (still sending up continued healing prayers to you Julia) and play along.  It's fun to play along and see what other famously creative folks are doing and share your own digs! Come around if you can!

So right now, I am in between some projects and about to go on vacation, so all that said, I didn't want to start anything too big, so what better to do than some tags (may fave thing to do!) I get monthly stamps from Unity Stamps which I love! They always have some pretty stamps as well as some cool background stamps, which I love for journaling!  So I had the stamp set from April that I hadn't really had time to use so I thought I would make two tags using the same stamp set to show how you could change it up! I'm not finished, but you can see the beginnings to the end here.

I just loved the flower and wanted to use it for a summery feel, if you will! We have some beautiful flowers around Georgia, even though the rain is beginning to be minimal, uggghhh! I haven't planted too many in my pots this year, I've been quite busy, so I thought this would do for right now! :)  I wanted to do one flat tag and one with a more 3D feel, so we shall see in the end! I will share them both when I am done!

What's your plan for the 4th holiday, for those of you in the States? I hope you will be taking some time off to be with family and friends and celebrate your freedom in whatever beautiful country you live in! Here in the USA, we are extremely blessed to have our freedom on many levels and I think we take if for granted in so many ways! I want to personally thank all those men and women who have served and who still serve to keep this great nation a free ground to call home!

We have freedom in our nation today, but there is a FREEDOM that you can have that is SURE and CERTAIN for ETERNITY if you so choose to grab hold of it! It is a freedom that no man can put asunder! It is the FREEDOM through Jesus Christ!

Christ came to free us from sin through His atoning sacrifice on the cross! God the Father loved us so much that He was willing to sacrifice His only Son that we might KNOW the true freedom from the sins of fallen man through the atoning blood of His Son, Jesus Christ! Through that shed blood we come to know the truth of God's Word and the power it holds for the believer and Jesus spoke that if we would but simply abide in that Word, that we would come to know the truth and the truth would set us free!

When we receive Christ as our Lord and Savior, we receive His very Spirit into our being to dwell in us and to empower us and Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 3:17, "Now the Lord is Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is Liberty!"  The definition of Liberty is "freedom from external or foreign rule; freedom from control, interference, obligation, restriction; freedom or right to frequent or use a place." So much power in one little word!!  The first bits of the definition are all rights reserved for you that you can be secure in from worldy or fleshly things when you receive Christ and seek that deeper relationship with Him! And the BEST bits of that definition......freedom or right to frequent or use a place......just made me want to jump up, shout and do the jig!!!! Receiving Christ and being washed in the blood, reconciles you back to our amazing Father in Heaven and thereby gives you FULL AUTHORITY to enter into the very throne room of God, to step on Holy Ground, to petition Him face to face and to have that one on one relationship with Him that He desired from the beginning of life!! If that doesn't do it for you my friend, you need to check your pulse!!! LOLOLOL Glory to God!

Take the time this weekend to reflect on the freedom that you have and enjoy today! You were born for such a time as this! Just think, you could have been born anywhere and at any time, but you were born for THIS TIME! Take care with that time and thank those wonderful men and women who sacrifice for us daily here on this earth and then thank your Heavenly Father for the sacrifice of His Son that you could live free for eternity! :)

Happy Independence day and see you next week! :)

ATC Love!

Good Thursday all my crafty friends! Lately I have been seeing A LOT of ICAD and ATC creativity and swapping.  Last year, I was involved in several tag, ATC, ICAD swaps and plus several challenges and that was coupled WITH my fulltime job and my part time job when I get home at night!! LOLOL Well, I had a full plate to say the least, so this year, I bowed out of a lot of the swaps due to changes at work and at home and I just needed to steel back some of that time.  My girls are growing up so fast and I don't want to miss out on valuable time with them, especially when they ask to spend more time with you (they are teens)!!! LOLOL All that said, I do miss a lot of that fun swap time!  Maybe next year!

So in light of all that, I decided to have some ATC fun last night. I like doing ATC's because you can do one or you can do many at one time!  I like doing a grouping and then changing each one up a bit. So that is what I decided to do last evening.  

I started by putting a layer of gesso on the cards and then I pulled out my Neocolor watersoluble crayons and just went to town laying down color randomly on each card. I love Neocolor crayons, but I must confess, I am still learning how to get the best use out of them. I am sure that I am not working them to their fullest potential, but I'll get there. Until then, I quite liked the color that turned into the backgrounds for each card.

Recently I actually won a prize on Artiscellar after I entered into a pool! I laugh at that because I NEVER win anything! I have won a couple of times over the years that I have been crafting, but you know you have to enter EVERYTHING in order to get that ONE win! LOLOLOL But hey, it's usually NEVER an issue because it's a great excuse to visit all the yummy crafty sites that I love and salivate over their products and HOPE I win something! :) LOLOL So what a blessing when I found out I won this awesome Halftone Dots Series stencil set that has been featured lately on a couple of different craft sites! Yippee me, right???

So I decided to pull out this great little set and use it with just some of my acrylic paints! I had fun, but let me just say, I DID NOT do the stencils justice! If you go look at how they used them and how they turned out on their artsy pieces, mine looks nothing like them!!! LOLOL But, I had fun and I will just keep at it until I get it right! LOLOL

In the end, I liked what I had done and think they turned out pretty fun! I added some further textures with some background stamps and sentiment stamps using Archival inks.  You can't tell a whole lot in these photos because of the lighting and the not so great camera on my phone, but hopefully you get the picture! LOLOL

I've mentioned before that I live in Georgia and for the most part, I enjoy living here, but if I had my druthers, I would be back in Santa Fe, my heart! But some of the things I do love about Georgia are the lovely greens, florals and fruits that can be seen and had here!  My father in law has grapevines and blueberry bushes galore on his property and he is such a sweetie and allows us all to come and pick until our heart is content! Naturally, I am happy to oblige! LOLOL

Yesterday my youngest and I went over for a good ole blueberry pickin!!! We had a ball....well us and the airplane size mosquitos that also live here in Georgia! LOLOL We had fun, she and I, but one thing I kept noticing was that my bag seemed to be more full than hers! When I called her out on that score, she said, "mom, they are so good!" LOLOLOL So needless to say, after I filled mine to the brim, I had to confiscate hers and fill it! She didn't seem to understand that she was supposed to put as many in the bag as she did in her mouth! LOLOLOL She is just the cutest thing! :)

Well, my lovelies, I think that's my share for today! I hope you are being blessed of the Lord today and are making plans for a SUPER weekend! We will be cleaning up and stocking up the camper for our 4th of July camping trip we have coming up next week! I CAN'T WAIT!!!

Blessings today! :)

WOYWW #368

Good Wednesday all my crafty friends! It's time for another WOYWW! Is it me or do the weeks keep getting shorter! LOLOL Not to worry on that score because last night when my daughter and I were talking about when she gets older, blah, blah, blah and I said something quirky to her and she's like "well your older now, so I'm not worried, you won't be around to scold me," and I said "ohhh, contraire baby, I'm living till I'm 100, so watch out!" LOLOLOL Poor her! LOLOLOL

Well, not much on my desk this week because I had to finish up my Pick A Stick Challenge that I shared yesterday if you missed it and I am still working on that BIG canvas so I thought I would share with you some goodies I pulled out last night that I got on my most recent trip home to New Mexico.  This goodie is something I have been wanting for awhile and just have not made the move to buy it because I always think of something I want more and just couldn't justify shoveling out the money to buy it. I'm a penny pincher and I am also one of those folks that will put something in their buggy and ride around the store with it for the whole shopping journey until I get so guilt ridden that I completely talk myself out of buying it in the name of "not really needing it" and then go and put it right back on the shelf! LOLOLOL Sighhhhh! This has happened MANY times with this product, by the way!  But THIS TIME, I FINALLY bought it! I was on vacation after all! LOLOL

When I started out journaling years ago, it was watercolor journaling, which I still do, but not nearly as much as my mixed media journaling. But I have a couple of sets of watercolor pencils and a cheap set of watercolors that I have always used. But I have always wanted the Koi Water Color Set, but just didn't want to pay for it! LOLOL I know, I know, what a sickness we have! :)  But when I was home I visited one of my favorite stamps places Guadalupe Fun Rubber Stamps! Oh yea!! It is a small little shop in downtown Santa Fe, but I love that place! They carry soooooo many yummy things, but I have to be frugal when I go. I went this time however, on a mission! :) If you are ever in Santa Fe, I encourage you to drop in, they are so sweet!


I had decided this year that I want to make my Christmas cards, so I went with that in mind and with thoughts of seeking some new stamps to make cute cards with. So I bought two, one with the cutest "chile" wreath on it and another with a church scene (churches are BIG in Santa Fe). They had some really cute samples in the store that the owners will allow you to take pictures of for reference, so of course I did. Not to copy them, but for ideas.  In addition, I got this AWESOME Koi Water Color travel kit and a gorgeous pack of Water Colour Postcards from Cotman that I love! Such awesome quality!I can't wait to use my new watercolor set! I piddled a little with it, but haven't really broke it out for a project yet! The other factor about it is that's it's obviously portable! I can take my lovely journal and set with me anywhere now! I'm in love! :)

I was reading this morning in John in God's Word about Jesus claiming to be the Son of God to the Jewish leaders. Something really struck a chord with me this morning while reading which was the fact that "The Father has life in Himself, and he has granted that same life-giving power to his Son. And he has given Him authority to judge everyone because His is the Son of Man." (John 5:26&27) What really brought that home to me this morning is that, as I shared yesterday, we ARE made in His image and as such, if we, who are called by His name, will but believe, we could walk in that SAME life-giving power and that SAME authority as Jesus did! That is AWESOME to me! The Lord said you have not, because you ask not! If you aren't walking in the FULL AUTHORITY of the Lord, maybe you have not sought His face and asked Him!

Jesus came to earth as a man to win back that authority that was given over by Adam. Jesus came to redeem mankind and reconcile us back to the Father that we COULD walk in FULL AUTHORITY!  So my question to myself was "are you walking in full authority?" I dare say that I am not. Many situations in my life would be inherently different if that were the case! That being said, I have NOT arrived, as most of us have not! However, that should never stop us from CONTINUALLY seeking His face for a deeper relationship with Him and for further growth. Just as Jesus, we should always remember, however, that we can do NOTHING on our own, but as we heed to our Father and allow for growth, we will carry out His will not our own! Therein, lies your authority!

Well, that is what's in my heart and on my desk today! What's in and on yours? I hope you have an AWESOME Wednesday and an even better rest of the week!

Blessings

God's Masterpiece!

Good Tuesday all my crafty friends! I pray each and every one of your weeks has started off with a bang!! Yesterday was the first day of summer....WOOT WOOT! Except, who is Mother Nature trying to fool? It's BEEN summer in Georgia!! It's been gastly with temps up to 100 on some days for weeks!! Nice try on that score, but fall seems so far away, ALREADY!!! LOLOL I love summer, don't get me wrong, but even temps would be sooooo much nicer! At any rate...Happy Summer!!

Today I will share my journal spread as part of the Pick A Stick Challenge over on the Facebook group!  This month the stick pull looked like this:

"Challenge" is a great word for these exercises!!! LOLOL There always seems to be one if not two things in there that I have never done or if I have, you wonder how you are going to make it work in the way and the order they require!!! I guess that's the fun of the whole project, huh????

Last week I shared a snippet of the beginnings of this with you guys that you can go look at, but basically it was just a smorgasbord of various acrylics "messing and blotting up" the spread to fulfill number one.. It really looked neat when I finished, so I was pleased with the beginning.  The next step was to add numbers and I really went on some prompt words from an online friend of mine, Zsuzsa, who last week noted to me that I was not old and basically was saying I shouldn't say that! Well, point well taken my friend....YOU were the inspiration for my spread this week! :) LOLOL 

I have never really been set back about my age or it's never really been a "thing" for me. I am 51 and proud and blessed to be here! Many opportunities were thwarted by the Lord in me not being here, but THANK YOU LORD that you "kept" me every step of the way for Your purpose! I just believe it is something that we should remind ourselves of DAILY how He never leaves nor forsakes us, FOR HIS PURPOSE and call on our lives!  First and foremost we were made in His image and that makes us "His Masterpiece!"  An exercise for you daily should be to reaffirm to yourself that "You are precious and honored in His sight and He loves YOU!" Isaiah 43:4 That all being said, THANK YOU Zsuzsa for the gentle reminder, and even though it may not have been in your intentions, God worked through you to speak His truth to me!

So I pulled out some Tim Holtz's numbers and threw a coat of gesso on them and then used one of the acrylics I had used in the background on the numbers. I then had a script stamp in my stash that I stamped on top of the numbers to give them a little texture.

Ok so, glorious number three!!! Ugghhh! Have never done resist and most certainly didn't know how to do that with acrylics.  I think they are usually done with watercolor, so I winged it! I took a piece of Tim Holtz tissue paper and doodled on it with a a white Daler Rowney oil pastel crayon.  I then heat set it thinking it would actually "set it" being that I was using cheap acrylics, not having and high glow. I then took one of the acrylics I used in the background and sponged over it and it worked out pretty good. It still wasn't the "resist" that you would get with the correct method, but it worked. I then decided to use my white gel pen to highlight it even further because I knew that I wanted it to be a design to use in the dress for my image that was the requirement in number ten.

Number four was write something with love. As I expressed previously, I had already found out what I wanted to write, which were God's love notes to me to encourage me daily for who I am in Him and who He has called me to be! Thank you Lord for your unconditional love! :)

Number five was create a tag to use on your page. I had that cute little black tag in my stash and then I had a package of those cute little ticket tags in my stash that are from 7 Gypsies. The ticket tags all had different sayings on them, but I thought the "beautiful" one fit for the them of my spread.

Number six was my fave! It was to add a fashion element! I have this zipper roll in my stash that I got from Maya Road in a grab bag one time that I have surprisingly been able to use in several projects! So I thought it would be so cute to use on this spread acting like a "mouth" spitting out the numbers and those love notes from God! That took me to number seven which was to stitch! HA...that one made me laugh the loudest! Anyone that knows me KNOWS that there is not a sewing fiber in my bones! LOLOL I can do a button in a pinch, but boy howdy, don't ask me to do anything else! LOLOL All that said, I have a faux stitch stamp that I cheated and used to look like I sticked around the journal as a "frame" an around the zipper element.


Ok, so number eight was the WORST!! I have never done the alcohol technique either. And not sure that I was very successful with it either. I did drops here and there and used a paper towel to blot and it pulled up a little paint here and there, but I really don't think it did what it was supposed to do! Oh well!! LOLOL

Number nine was to draw something, so I drew that flower to mimic the pattern I drew on the dress of the image of my lady that was the requirement of number 10! I fussy cut her out and put her looking over the top that the tag and the word "beautiful" to remind myself to believe in that and claim it! Voila!

That's it for my Pick A Stick Challenge this months folks! I encourage you to play along with us each month, it's a lot of fun to challenge yourself.....even if you make some blunders!!

Blessings to BEAUTIFUL YOU today! :)

Tag It Tuesday Tag Challenge!

Good Thursday all my crafty friends! I'm stoked that I am even able to blog a post again this week! "The odds must ever be in my favor!" LOLOLOL It is good to post again though! I am a little on the OCD side, so it nerves me when I can't post as much! I don't know why! Hypothetically speaking, when I post to my blog, someone other than me is reading it when all along I know that it's mainly just me reading this, so I don't know why I get my dander so kicked up about posting. So back to the OCD tirade, I guess that's my story and I'm sticking to it! LOLOL So, if the hypothetical thoughts have brought you here, dear reader, read on! :)

Today, I am posting my finished tag for the Tag It Tuesday Tag Challenge over on Sheri Whitfield's blog Cards and More By Sheri and also on her Facebook Group. I love doing her challenge. Mainly because it pushes me to create, but also because tags are one of my fave things to do! Sheri always has a cute theme and this month is no different. She required us to use the Pantone color Limpet Shell and include some kind of "beachy" theme! I don't have exact Pantone colors, so I mix to match! Nothing like improvising! :) And I was stoked about the "beachy" theme because I actually had "beachy" stuff in my stash! I am usually struggling to come up with stash to make my challenge items with because I have a small art space and not enough places to put stash! LOLOL So yay for me this month!

I was over the moon at how it turned out! It's not epic I realize, but I thought it turned out so cute! All you crafters know what I am talking about! You have this vision in your head, you go feet first into it, and then you finish thinking.......things that make you go hmmmmm? LOLOL But I was happy with this guy! What's even more funny is this is another month that myself and another crafter were on the same wave length! Two months ago Sheri and I nearly had the same style tag and then this month, I noticed that Peg, after she posted hers, and I have nearly the same style! I say, great minds think alike! LOLOL

I started this tag with gesso as I always do because you never "really" know what's coming next, even though you think you do! Because I had in mind that I wanted to do an under the water scene I pulled out this cool embossing folder that I had forgotten I had in my stash and embossed my tag which totally looked like bubbles and grass under water when I got done. I then pulled out several of my acrylics, nothing fancy just the cheap kind (all I can afford, hee hee) and mixed and matched until I got close to the color that Sheri requested. And then, of course, I added like minded colors to shade and enhance.

I played up the bubble and greenery in the embossing folder with other acrylics and then did some shading with Distress Ink in Salty Ocean. Last year, I had a friend of mine that knows I love to craft, give me this big bag of shells thinking I could use them sometime! If that's not God looking out for me, I don't know what is! LOLOL so I hot glued them to the bottom along with some bits and bobbles in my bead stash that I thought would look like coral and underwater flowers. And then I added some of Finnabair's Art Ingredients Mica Flakes in Frosted to the bottom to look like sand. I then added some ribbon I had in my stash that I thought looked like seaweed grass to be the foreground seaweed grass. 

Everybody in my family KNOWS that I LOVE, LOVE Hobby Lobby. When I go, I spend NO LESS than two hours at a time in there and sometimes more! Eeeeeeek!!! So when we go on shopping trips and I tell them I want to go by there, they are like GULP!!!!!!!! LOLOL So last year I went with my sister and niece and as a joke they started putting stuff in my buggy, unbeknownst to me, and when I got up to the counter to pay, I had all this extra hoo haw appearing on the checkout belt! I was like, where the heck did this come from, as they slyly looked on!!!!!! Well needless to say they both got a big laugh and I got a BIG BILL! LOLOL Cuteness of it all is that I didn't "really" mind because we can all justify possibly "needing" those items in the future "for something!" LOLOL Once again, I was being looked out for! LOLOLOL All that said, the cute little seahorse and the cute little crab are two of the items she threw in my buggy!! They were little charms that I simply gessoed and sprayed with Dylusions and some Lindy's Stamp Gang sprays. 

I finished off with my sentiment, some bling to enhance some bubbles and some twine! Voila, my friends! "Beachy" theme it is! :) Thanks Sheri for the challenge this month, it was so fun!

There are soooooo many things going on in our nation right now! It's usually sadness of some sort every time I turn on the TV. That being said, I don't do it much because, although I know it's "real," I don't like having anything other than a positive spirit to drive me through each day. We are a nation in desperate need of prayer on so many levels!

My friends, I want to leave you today with thoughts of no matter what the goings on around us are, God is STILL God! He NEVER changes, although we continually do! My heart is that we stand together and pray for all those in authority over this great nation today! May we all stand in agreement for God's supernatural intervention for our nation and that the blind eyes would be opened that they see the power of our true ONE living God! God is in control and has a plan for this nation, but He's looking for the faithful to stand in the gap! God's purpose, will prevail!

"If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from Heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land." 2 Chron. 7:14

God bless you today as you stand in the gap! :)

WOYWW #367

Good Wednesday all my crafty friends! Guess what time it is!! Yep, it's What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday! Is it here already you ask! Why yes it is! It seems like it was just last Wednesday!! LOLOL Not sure, but I think that is a bit of old age or it could be the "art gremlin" having a little Tom Foolery trying to out me that I haven't gotten ANY of my projects finished! Please someone come up with more time in a day! LOLOLOL  All that said, I have snippets of soon to be finished projects on my art table that I will share with you today as part of WOYWW #367 over on Lunch Lady Jan's blog in Julia's stead. 

I have three projects going on right now, but the two I will share snippets of with you today are the beginnings of my Pick A Stick Challenge for June and my Tag It Tuesday monthly challenge that I plan to share in full with you tomorrow!

For this month's Pick A Stick Challenge the first stick pulled was to "make a mess/blot it up. Well, as you can plainly see, I HAVE made a mess and blotted it up pretty good! LOLOL I decided just to do random colors and mix it all around, you do the hokey pokey....oops, that's a song...sorry...lololol That being said, I haven't gotten to my next step, which will be adding numbers. I'm still working on that more time in a day thing! LOLOL

This months Tag It Tuesday challenge is the other project on my art table right now and I am nearly finished, so I will give you a sneak peek for tomorrow's reveal.

This month's challenge required us to use Pantone Limpet Shell and something kind of "beachy." While I am not necessarily a "beachy" kind of girl, (don't get me wrong I love a beautiful beach just as much as anyone, but, I am a mountain kind of girl), I was a little excited about this tag challenge because actually had stash in my drawers that would embellish this months tag! Yay me!!! Can't wait to finish it this evening and share with you tomorrow!

Besides those two projects and my big canvas project that I shared with you last week that I am still working on, nothing else on my desk but a BIG OLD MESS!!!

I hope you all have an AWESOME Wednesday and I look forward to seeing what other WOYWW partners in crime are up to! I'm off then!

Make it a blessed day today! :)

WOYWW #366

Good Wednesday all my crafty friends!!!! It has been a HOT MINUTE since I have posted! I have been having beginning summer frenzy and fun! My kiddos finished the school year and have started a plethora of activities, work is crazy with conferences here and there to coordinate and I went on a much needed vacation two weeks ago, so last week I had to play catch up!!! Phew, I'm breaking a sweat! LOLOL All that said, I haven't posted or done a whole lot of crafting to post, ha ha ha! It's all good though! I will share some goodies with you today!

If you will remember some a post or two ago, I mentioned that a dear friend commissioned me to do a large canvas to do for her future daughter in law and son's wedding. She had seen something online somewhere whereby the couple had used a canvas in lieu of the sign in book. It really is a cute idea and me being me, said, "oh sure, I can do that!" Will I ever learn?????? I have NEVER done a huge canvas in my life! LOLOL But, I took the challenge and I have started the process and I will give you a snippet today! I will, of course, share the finished product......if I'm not embarrassed, LOLOLOL!

 This canvas is so big that I could definitely not do it on my usual closet crafting table so this is on my kitchen table, to which I am standing up on a bench over top of it!  This is obviously the beginning stages of this piece. I have a LOT left to do, but "do," I WILL do! LOLOL  I just pray that what's in my mind that comes out on the canvas is what my friend is thinking and that it will be something the couple will cherish! Keep your fingers crossed and prayers going up for me my friends! :)

I'm so blessed to have a huge walk-in closet as my very own! When we built a new master bedroom onto our small home, one of the requirements for us both was separate closets and that they were walk-in! It was a needed change because before we were sharing a tiny closet.......NEVER a good thing! LOLOL


All that said I use my closet for many things other than clothes and shoes! Along with my clothes and shoes is on one end my spiritual study area that houses a cabinet full of goodies and a beautiful altar that my husband built me for my private study time. On the other end is my art craft table and supplies on above shelving as well as four pull out drawers underneath my table and some clothing to house all my sprays, paints, other mediums, stamps, papers, dies and Big Shot machine! Yes, I SQUEEZE it all in there! I have rearranged several times to make it all a peaceful atmosphere! LOL

Currently on my "actual" craft table is my Bible Study materials because I like the light on that table to read by and since I am doing my current project on the kitchen table, it all works out! I'm sure many of you know that the kitchen table isn't the best place to work, so I can't wait to get done with this project so that I can be back to the sanctuary of my closet!! LOLOL Some of you may remember that I am working on moving my husband out of one of our out buildings so that I can make it my very on craft shack. Well, I'm still working on him! Send good vibes my way please....I WANT THAT BUILDING! Until then, I am blessed with my informal space!


I mentioned I had been on vacation and it was glorious. I went home to Santa Fe, New Mexico to visit my stepmother and sisters. I had a ball! I didn't want to come back to Georgia and leave them behind! I try to get out at least every year to see them, but sometimes it doesn't always work out that way! If you will remember I was taking some surprise pieces of art that I did for my stepmother and she was thrilled. We hung them on her wall while I was there, so I thought I would give you a glimpse!

The really turned out good and thank goodness they made it one piece through the flight! I hope to make her some others for the future, but for now, I think she has something visible to know how much I love her and how much I love my New Mexico!


The weather was absolutely gorgeous and we ended up doing so many lovely things during my visit this time. One of the things we did was visit a beautiful winery where we sat and enjoyed a spectacular glass of wine! Here's a picture of me and my beautiful sisters! That's me, the old gal with the white shirt on! LOLOL I sorely miss them when we aren't together because we are so close!


I was able to do a hike while I was there which is my most favorite thing to do! And the mountains of Santa Fe are just amazingly beautiful!  They continue to call me from states away and the ache is there until I am able to go again! If you ever get the opportunity to go, you simply must! It's a beautiful spiritual experience on many levels!

Well, I hope you are all having a wonderful beginning to your summer!  I am off to check out what others are doing on their work desks this Wednesday! If you want to play along, simply click here and let us see your digs and you can also check out others' while you are there!

Make it a great Wednesday my friends!

Blessings