A Crossroads

   It has been so long since I have written that I could not remember how to get into the blog.  Seriously.  I have missed writing.  I love to write almost as much as I love o do art work.  But I have to do some thinking about this blog.  I missed it.  I missed you all.  I love comments because it connects me to some very creative people.  And I need that.  However I am not sure what direction to go on this blog.  There will always be artwork, because hey, I have to create.  It isn't just going to be art work though (and I hope I don't lose you all).  I want to write about what is happening with me, share some things I am learning, invite you to look at me new art projects and just chat. 
   I have been doing some tangling and of course some coloring.  I also have been painting some rocks.  I did this years ago and sort of lost interest.  Now the interest has returned.  I am using them to decorate my house plants.  Here is what I have done so far.  Some are a bit off center but overall I am pleased and definitely having fun.  And where do I find such lovely rocks?  On the Amazon.  Well, not the Amazon, but Amazon either way.

     As I mentioned in the last very long ago post, I am trying to declutter.  That will be an ongoing project for probably forever!  Or so it seems.  I have cleaned out my brother's room.  Very hard for me to do.  But now it is what I am calling a study.  Or eventually will be.  I have move the stationary bike in there, some plants and hope to one day own a recliner. 
     My BIG project has been to have my front porch repaired and screened in.  I will probably write about that next so you can expect a LOT of photos.  It is what I have always dreamed of and if I say so myself, it is really great looking.  To say I am pleased is an understatement.  It did take a while to get there - more about that and the saga of the stairs in my next post. 
      My life have changed a great deal since the loss of my brother.  I have coped with things I was certain I could not.  Grown in ways I find unbelievable.  I still grieve.  I think perhaps I always will.  Not in the same way.  The emptiness does not go away.  It changes you and everything around you.  I am happy though.  I have met a lot of new wonderful friends and have had some new experiences.  I would go back to where I was in a heartbeat, but since that cannot be done, I move forward.  Sometimes not so steadily but still forward. 
     I will leave it at this today.  It feels good to be back to writing.  Sort of like talking to an old friend.  I hope you will get this post.  I hope you will read it.  I also hope you will drop me a "hello" in the comments so I will know you are still out there.  I won't swamp you with posts - promise.  I just want a place to sit and chat for a bit.  Thanks for all the time you spent with me before and I hope you will find something now to bring you back around occasionally.  Have a wonderful day and next time you can find out how many steps my front porch had to have!  It is quite a story. 

January calendar pages

I have been absent.  I kept meaning to scan and post and never seemed to get to it.  I am in the middle of a major "decluttering" project at my house.  Not fun and at times very emotional, but also very necessary.  My brother and I had been talking about doing this for quite awhile but neither of us wanted to.  I still don't want to, but I think I need to.  Besides it does keep me busy.  The busier I am, the less time I have to think.

I have two Diva challenges done.  This week's and last.  I will now need to catch up on inchie challenges at some point.  The top one is to use stripes and the one is to use the tangle ratoon.  I have fallen for that tangle - it is so much fun, but definitely a challenge.

Last are a bunch of my tangle a day calendar pages.  I love that calendar.  I decided instead of using it as a journal as I usually do, I would just tangle each day.  So here is the month of January.  Some days I like much better than others.

I hope you all are having a very nice day.  I will now go and get some supper done - for Lakota.  I really don't have much of an appetite.  I had a good size salad for lunch.  I could eat salads all the time.  My favorite meal.  Take care and lots of hugs!

Welcome 2019!!

    Well, in all honesty I don't really feel like "welcoming" 2019, it just sounded good.  I do hope this year is a good one for everyone.  We are to another inchie year.  This year's theme is National Days that fall on Mondays. Interesting. The first inchie was for Thank Goodness It's Monday (said no teacher ever I am sure).  My inchie is more or less a copy of the one on the site.  Not original, but all I had in my mind right now. I will get more creative.  I hope.

   Diva's challenge was a circle or button.  I enjoy doing those.  They are fun and rather relaxing - like  a mandala.

    This other piece was just something I was playing around with while watching a video.  I do a lot of video watching.  Puts some noise in the house.

     And lastly, a couple of coloring pages from some of my new books. 

   It has been a very long and rough day, but I thought I would get my post up.  Take care and have a nice evening.

Merry Christmas!

   I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday.  This one is definitely different than I envisioned it.  I am . . . surviving.  It will be hard but that is expected.  It is incredibly lonely since I have no close family to visit with (except by phone).  But overall I am okay.  I have found a lot of strength in prayer and reading. 
     This week's inchie was Sweden.  Mine is rather simple but here goes.  I also am sharing my year's inchie work.  I like how it looks with all the flags.  I wish I had started out with flags, but I only missed one.

    Rambling through some old scrapbooks I found these pictures.  Thought I would share.  The first is one taken in 1959 for our family Christmas cards.  The second one I just one I found, I am not sure when it was taken. 

   Have a wonderful week and thank you for dropping by!  Hugs!

Poland Inchie

    This year's inchies are almost over.  Seems hard to believe.  This week the country was Poland.  I decided to use the national flower - the corn poppy.  Poppies are such gorgeous flowers.

     I hope everyone is having a great week.  Mine seems a bit like a roller coaster.  Up and down. Sometimes within a few moments time span.  I have tried everything to fight off the "tidal waves"  but they just come.  Thanks for dropping by and have a blessed day.  Hugs.

Brrrrrr . . .

   Winter has arrived.  Only very typically of here we do not get pretty white snow, we get rain.  And then some more rain.  And when that is over, more rain.  I don't want mountains of snow like my homestate of NC, but I do wish for just a tiny bit. 
     The inchie this week was Montenegro.  I know nothing about that place.  I did look it up and decided on an icon that I saw that was interesting.  It looks like a pretty place.

  Diva's challenge was to do something festive for the holidays!  I saw something similar to this online and thought I would change it up a bit and use this.  Would make a nice card front if I had gotten cards done.  I bought new Christmas paper and cut outs and  everything for cards this year and then . . . well, I just haven't felt up to it.  Maybe next year.

  And lastly a coloring page I have been working on for a bit. 

     Thank you for dropping by and lots of thanks for all the kind words on my last post.  My days are long right now.  I have good moments and not so good moments.  But I guess that will be the case for quite a while.  I am glad I have my art to entertain me.  It helps.  Hugs!

I did it.

    Scanning my art work and being able to display it means a lot to me - obviously.  Ray usually scans it on the big computer (I call it his computer but it really is both of ours).  Then he emails it to me - all the way across the room, lol - to my laptop.  I tried all morning to figure out how to scan my work.  No luck.  So I went to trying it on my laptop.  The program isn't as filled with perks, but hey, I did it.  I can at least put my work up until I can conquer the other one. 
      Two inchies from me this week - Cyprus and Chile.  It is hard to believe the inchies for this year is almost over.  Wow.

Chile

Cyprus

      Diva's tile was to use the tangle 123 O'Leary.  I decided to do it in blue and add a word that has been heavy on my mind this week.  I may gift this card to someone who has helped me a lot.

      The last is a coloring page I did weeks ago.  I just never got it scanned. 

      The days are good and bad.  Slow and quiet.  Lonely.  But I am going to survive this.  I have a lot of faith and I trust in Jesus.  Thank you for dropping by and leaving me some much needed sunshine.  Hugs.

No art this week

    Here I sit.  Just me.  No art.  I cannot create anything right now.  I can barely function.  This past Saturday night, I lost . . . my world.  My brother died suddenly.  I have been in an up and down state and just adrift.  I am sure I will get back to drawing and coloring.  I will need that release.  That peace.  I will have to figure out how to use the scanning software so I can continue to share - as he did that for me.  But I will.  Bear with me for a while.  I need to continue to write here.  I will try not to over burden with gloom, but I do need to write.  I just need prayers right now.  Please hug those close to you until they yell for you to stop because you never know.  You just never know.  Hugs.

Happy Thanksgiving!

      At least to those of us in the U.S.   To the rest of my friends, just have a wonderful blessed day.  While it is just Ray and I (and of course, Lakota), we still have a rather good sized meal for Thanksgiving.  The plan in doing a larger meal is leftovers!  It means I don't have to cook for a few days at least.  I enjoy that.  Plus there are things we simply must have that remind us of our childhood dinners at our grandparents.  For me, cranberry relish salad.  For Ray, deviled eggs.  I have started a bit of meal prep today so I don't have much to do tomorrow.  I also got my Christmas tree up today!  It is so pretty.  I love this season.
     The inchie country was Denmark.  That is such a beautiful place (at least according to photos).  I chose a Viking ship and the flag.  Simple but I like it.

       Diva's challenge was to use fengle and pokeroot.  Again a rather simple drawing but it uses the two tangles.  I love fengle.  It has always been one of my favorites. 

     And last some of the past week's coloring.  I have a few more drawing challenges to work on, but they are not done . . . yet.  Perhaps as I chill from my meal tomorrow. 

     Now I must go work on a few Christmas cards.  Please have a wonderful day and I hope you find it full of blessings!  Hugs!

Please, no yodelling!

     This week's inchie - Austria - had me humming Sound of Music songs!  I love that movie.  I went with my 5th grade class (as a student) to see it at the theater.  That was a fun experience.  Nowadays you want to show a movie at school, you rent it at Netflix.  Fun, maybe.  But not the same as 80 5th graders hitting the popcorn stands and going in a theater.  Brave teachers, lol!  Anyway, Austria is our location.  Such a beautiful place - although I have never been there.  I would love to see it in person.

       Here is the MOJO challenge for this week.  I normally do not name my art work, but when I finished this one - I could not get past the name, "Standing Under My Ceiling Fan".  Didn't plan on it, but it sure fits!

  Last but not least a couple of string challenges from one of my Facebook groups. 

     That's all for this week!  I plan on getting the Diva challenge done, but haven't tackled it yet.  Thanks for dropping by and I hope you have a wonderful day.  Hugs.

A Bit of Blue Sky

        It was so nice this morning to look out my window and see blue sky.  Last night our area was under storm watches and flood watches.  Schools all around were either cancelled or starting under a delayed time.  I am not a person who enjoys storms at all.  Certainly not when they could be severe.  But we were blessed with very mild storms, yet some pretty heavy rain.  This morning is very nice.  There may be some more headed our way tonight, but for now - enjoy the blue sky!
        The inchie this week for Every Inchie Monday was Honduras.  I usually start my inchie by doing a google search for icons for the country.  There I find some interesting ideas for my inchies.  Not here.  The only icon shown was the flag.  That's it.  When I searched for images I saw a gorgeous country - blue water and luscious greenery.  Oh well.  I suppose my flag would have to do. 

       Diva's challenge was number 375 - wow!  Almost 400!  That's amazing.  This was the week for the Use My Tangle challenge.  So we had to use the tangle burtz.  I combined it with munchin for my tile.

       The other challenge I completed this week was the MOJO challenge.  The tangles we had to use were spirox, sandswirl, and tupuk.  I had only ever used sandswirl before.  The others were new to me.

       That's it for this week.  Except for some coloring pages in my new books.  Coloring and tangling are so relaxing for me.  I enjoy just chilling and doing either.  I was thinking this morning how happy I am not to have worry about delays or missed school days.  Stormy weather brings about extra pressure for teachers.  We are responsible for our children's safety and emotional comfort.  Not an easy feat. 

     Have a wonderful week and I look forward to reading your comments!  Hugs and blessings!