Give Thanks To Our Lord and Each Other...

 What FABULOUS weather we are enjoying here in Southern Minnesota!  It is in the 70s with plenty of sunshine and a gentle breeze that teases my hair and eagerly blows in through our open windows!  JUST FANTASTIC!!!!  Feels so good to air out the house again before winter winds blow cold.

Right now it is hard to imagine that I will be adding Christmas decorations to our home in just a few days!  Instead of frantically shopping this Friday I will enjoy a peaceful day at home creating a cozy winter home scene indoors to share with family and friends.  That sounds so wonderful to me!

           (Catherine Klein)

In all things,

give

thanks

                                                I Thessalonians 5:18

With joyful prayers and loving Thanksgiving wishes to all as you share time with family and friends now and throughout the closing of this year.......~Sandie  

Handmade Pottery Yarn Bowl

My current project is keeping my hands busy with knitting.  As a long-time "novice" I am trying to learn to be fluent with the knit and purl stitches!  It is great fun using these size 13 needles!!  The project (can't say just what that is at this time as Christmas is not that far away) moves along quite rapidly.
More than that I want to show you the BEAUTIFUL handwork of Ning's Pottery in Owatonna, MN.

This artisan was selling her lovely pottery at a local craft show that I attended this past summer.  Much to my delight I was able to purchase this fun to use yarn bowl to use when I knit or crochet.  The colors are lovely.

The following photos show the detail Ning adds to her unique pieces.

 

 

More of Ning's creations can be found on her website:
ningspottery.weebly.com

Hob Nobbers Blog Decorating Give-Away

Hello Friends!
Just a quick note to share about a give-away on an sweet acquaintance's blog.  Sandy of http://hobnobbers-sandy.blogspot.com, is offering this give-away in preparation for Christmas Decorating.  You have to check it out for yourselves to learn more about it!!

Sandy's Pinterest site is chock full of fun inspiration and ideas for CREATING!  Gotta love that!!
HAPPY HAPPY TRAILS to you......~Sandie

Life By Design: A Show about Lisa Leonard, Jewelry, Faith and Family (Pr...

Give a listen as this couple shares their inspiration for living moment by moment in this lifetime ~ and being CREATIVE while living their daily lives!  It's exciting to know that they give our God praise for all that they have!

My First Canvas Collage/Jeanne Oliver's 2012 E-course

WOW!!  It is completed!  This my first ever canvas collage.  It was to be an altered journal according to our class schedule, but I used the Never Dull technique on a magazine image to make this collaged figure.  The inspiration and encouragement came from Jeanne Oliver's CREATIVELY MADE online e-course (which was so generously gifted to me by Carol Spinski).

This creation is an expression of my being...

(Click on photos to enlarge)

Through this course I have learned to take time to think on who I am.  God created each one of us as unique individuals with special gifts that we are to put to use!!
Thinking over my life thus far I have had fun thinking on the gifts God has given ME.  It has been instilled within me to love others.  Much joy comes from sharing time with those I love.  It is such a rich  pleasure to be loved in return.  Children hold a special "key" to my heart as well as the pets that enrich my life....at this time our sweet canine companion - Ladie, and two felines - Fauna and Sable, and my
flock of doted-upon chickens.
In March of this past year my life was blessed with the addition of my first grandbaby!  Oh what joy he brings to the moments that I share with him.  It's an added blessing that I get to spend more time with his mama and papa too!
My two sons and their ladies are such a joy to share time with.

  

In the following photo I wanted you to see that I added just a bit of wire and beads to adorn the top side.
Decorative staples are used to attach the wire.
 The woman symbolizes me and the owl is representative of all that I love.   One can nurture, but we must be prepared to let it have wings.

In this corner I added a pieced layer of paper with "I Love You,  Remembering these special moments with you".  The #52 is representative of the year I came to be on this earthly journey.

To NURTURE and love, whether it be people

 in my life, animals, gardening, creating,

 bringing heartfelt warmth to our home 

and/or just plain LIVING!

  How grateful I am for my life and who I am!!

  "Abide With Me" is a hymn that my heart sings.

Liquitex Modeling Paste and a round tissue paper cardboard roll were used to add texture to this area as I recall "bumps" and other difficult times in my life.   We all have them, even though we experience different circumstances.

These "keys" and the words, You have the keys to my heart",  remind me that I am not alone.  God has the MAIN KEY to my heart and others hold their very own "key" with the laughter, tears, joys and sorrows that get shared in our everyday living.

On the lower right edge I added the stamped date for when I completed my canvas collage.

It has been so energizing to be creating in my "Creative Haven"
while working on this project, so I stamped those words
as a reminder!

What a delightful learning experience this has been!  THANK YOU, Jeanne, for your thoughtfulness and the inspiration shared, and a special thank you to Carol Spinski at Raised In Cotton ~ carolspinski.com ~ for gifting me with this opportunity to learn something so new and exciting!!

Sweet Autumn blessings to each of you reading this note!

Joyfully........~Sandie

Folding Book/Accordion Photo Album

Greetings to each of you that have come to my table(blog)!!  It's with a grateful heart that I am recovering from my surgery.  Having returned to work, at a temporary computer job instead of being a baker, I am happy to report that I am adjusting and finding renewed strength!

  

What joy there is in knowing that my Lord watches over me.  He cares for my every moment and my well being! 

My sweet grandson provides terrific inspiration!!!

What a delight it is to find some creative time and have a project with photos to share on my blog!  So many other important events have been happening in my life......like having the pleasure of sharing time with this sweet little fellow ~ my grandson(sounds so good to my ears!)!!!   Harrison has been with us for 5 months already!

For Harrison's GREAT grandma's birthday I made this folding photo album as a way to share these photos.  To me these are so fun to create, especially in 6"x6" and 9"x9" finished sizes.   What a unique way to display captured precious moments of time!  

Using supplies that I had on hand I wanted a timeless yet fun combination of color and texture.

As you can see in the first photo I made the closure with a length of  hand-dyed bias seam binding(using Ranger Distress Inks).  Worked so well in creating my own color to coordinate with Cosmo Cricket's EARTH LOVE designer papers.   The front label is made from card stock that I painted with chalkboard paint.  Writing with a white gel pen made it look like I used chalk.   A wooden button from Prima Marketing adds a finishing touch.

The inside pages are made from 3- 12"x12" sheets of card stock, which resulted in the 9"x9" size book.  

Hopefully you can tell how this book has a unique way of folding and unfolding.  Several sites have a tutorial available.  The one that helped me along is www.exploringwomanhood.com.  Their photos were very helpful in configuring the folds!!

Back Cover (or right side of book)

Center Page

Front cover (or left side of book).

To fit the photos onto the folded pages I cut and resized each one.

  In trying to make it an"unfussy" back cover I just added a simple tag that I stamped with my name and year.  The colorful dots on the inside pages are stamped with distress inks to mimic those on the book covers.

Back Cover

It's a fun pleasure to share these baby photos with Harrison's loving GREAT grandma, who lives so far away.  

May you and your families stay safe while you have a memorable Labor Day holiday!!

Until we meet again.......~Sandie

Creating Vintage Journal Via Jeanne Oliver's E-Course

Hello to each of you reading my blog!  Finally I am feeling up to posting as my eyesight is clearing and time spent holding my arms at a keyboard is improving.   Healing from my surgery is taking place and I have SO MUCH to be grateful for!!  Hopefully soon I can begin to drive a vehicle again.  Thankfully, my husband and friends have helped me in getting to church and to the grocery stores.  Otherwise "Home Sweet Home" is where I have spent my time recouping ~ and that is with a GRATEFUL heart!!

Here's my first creative endeavor in what seems a LONG while....

OH WHAT FUN!!  This past week I was inspired to create a vintage journal with the tutorial by Jeanne Oliver in her online e-course, "Creatively Made" that I am part of (THANK YOUS to Carol Spinski at Raised In Cotton!).  

(You can click on the photos for a larger view.)

Using an old book I cut it apart for the hard covers....

Then I cut up an old tattered doily to use around the edges...

The papers I chose are from "Love Letters" by Recollections Signature.  Ranger Distress Inks added extra color.   

Mod Podge worked very well for adhering the papers to the hard book covers.

My completed VINTAGE JOURNAL's front cover.

Tags, chipboard, ribbon, beads and trinkets embellish the pages...

Inside are many pages just awaiting my added thoughts and comments of my experience in Jeanne Oliver's "Creatively Made" e-course.  Jeanne is so inspiring!!  Just what I needed at this time in my life!!

How fun to meet others that are participating in this class online and to see what creations they bring forth!

THANK YOU, Jeanne!!!