Another Year...but all is not lost

Despite all my best intentions

another year has managed to escape me.

Hopeful once again that 2019 may be

my return to blogging, 

I was happy to see my friend Kim

is hosting one of her

never disappointing ATC swaps.

Let's have some post holiday fun!

You can find all the details

on her

BLOG

Wishing you all a blessed holiday season

 and 

a happy, creative and healthy 

2019 !

HOPE

Here I am again.

Drawn back to blogging as we close another year.

As some of you may know, 

2017 has been somewhat of a struggle for me.

Multiple eye surgeries

and the seemingly endless stream of complications

 associated with those surgeries

sometimes left me feeling hopeless.

But I'm almost there

and will be returning to work after the 

new year.

I did manage to play in a few facebook group swaps

when vision allowed

during my "house confinement". 

This piece was a collaborative effort

and so much fun!

There were four of us in our

round robin group.

We each began with a substrate of choice

and a focal point piece.

As they made the rounds,

each of us added some love to

each others collages.

This gorgeous collage is what came home to me.

 Whenever there's a 

white Christmas theme

I can't resist.

 It was a tag swap.

I started with a Tim Holtz

mini cabinet card

and embellished away.

                                           

 I wrapped each one in a vintage doily

accompanied by a vintage

Christmas postcard.

 Each holiday season I

decorate my little white tree

with all handmade ornaments.

Some purchased

but primarily swapped.

 Did you spot one of yours?

These mini textile collaged ornaments

were pure joy to create.

 Layering with little scraps of

antique laces, vintage doilies,

vintage buttons

without any roadmap

was such an enjoyable process.

 Each gifted with a

glass glittered tag.

 Lastly I had the opportunity

to renew my love of paper dolls

with this Sugar Plum Fairy ornament.

One of the blessings

of my imposed mini retirement

was rediscovering my love of swapping.

But as lovely as these swaps were

I miss the intimacy of swapping with blog friends.

I shared facebook swaps that went well, 

also reconnecting with old blog swapping friends.

But not all facebook swaps go smoothly.

Large groups of hundreds of people

some of whom have never crafted in their lives

and people who stiff are all too common

in the facebook world of swapping.

That being said,

I plan on hosting some swaps

via my blog in the upcoming year.

I can't tell how often right now

as I'll be resuming full time employment

and still have some minor eye hurdles,

but this is in part my

HOPE

for the new year.

Bring it on 2018!

I HOPE....

 to reconnect with old blog friends

to swap with old blog friends

for continued healing of my eye

to find peace in our somewhat fractured world

 But most of all,

to remember to remain full of

HOPE.

I won't blog again until the new year

as I am finally cleared for flying

and will be spending the holidays with my daughter in Charlotte.

I wish you all the happiest of holidays

and most sincerely

HOPE

you'll be back to visit me soon.

Valentine swap?

I Know It's Been a Long Time...

but is anyone feeling up to a good old fashioned Halloween Matchbox Swap?

Steampunk? Why not?

I don't dislike steampunk

but it's not my favorite style.

However my partner in a recent

altered altoids tin swap

requested steampunk.

So I dug through my stash of "things"

and found old keys

and wings

and gears

and arrows 

and crowns

and other assorted doo dads.

And this is what I came up with.

That's an actual 3 dimensional

copper and glass case

glued in on the left.

Always exciting to step out of the comfort zone

and spread your wings!

I would like to thank all my visitors

who took the time to leave such kind and comforting

words of encouragement.

All of this...

creating, blogging

is a struggle for me right now.

I feel the need to push myself though

to maintain some level of life as I knew it.

Your friendship means the world to me.

Prayer Flags

Hello dear blog friends.

I'm not certain there are any of you left out there

given my infrequent posts but I'm 

hoping some of you are.

I have undergone 2 surgeries to my eye

and the healing process is not going well

so I am out of work

struggling along on disability.

My muse has been hiding during most

of this process.

But when she was present, creating

prayer flags seemed a therapeutic outlet.

Thank you for visiting.

I truly have missed blogland!

Little Book of Whispers

Hello Friends!

It's been a while again!

 I am recovering (struggling)

oh so slowly from eye surgery and starting a little book

inspired by artist, Laly Mille.

Just in the beginning stages but will keep you updated on the progress.

Hope this finds you all

happy, well and still creating!

Valentine Mini Collage ATC's

I love the imagery, softness and of course

sentiment of Valentine's Day.

I came across the image of this little girl 

and the bear

and knew instantly I wanted to use it.

I did a lot with these tiny pallets!

The chipboard base is covered

with a muted pink and green vintage floral pattern.

I then collaged with the sweet image 

as my focal point using

 vintage crochet trim

vintage seam binding

coffee stained paper doily 

lightly distressed hand-torn ribbon

pale pink lace

pink eyelet fabric

frayed chiffon ribbon

All were complete with a tiny

sugared heart

and touches of pink glitter.

Lastly, each tucked into 

lovely envies for swapping. 

 & 

a Valentine tag for the hostess!

Happy Valentine's Day

my dear blog friends!

White Christmas ATC's

 I so love crafting in a vintage style

and even moreso when the theme is

White Christmas!

 A piece of crocheted vintage trim for the background...

 and the sweetest tiny white bottle brush tree.

The frosty icicles are stickles and

German glitter glass.

Hope your holidays are creative & crafty!

Sweet Charlotte

A darling little punkin

made for a friend...

Halloween Domino Book

Still LOVE making domino books!!!!

I haven't done one in quite a while

but it was as much fun as I remembered.

I had a very difficult time capturing this one in 

a photograph however.

The sparkly tulle skirt and my lighting did not mix.

But here is what I was able to capture.

Hope you all enjoyed a creative Halloween!

It Simply Wouldn't Be Halloween Without a Swap!

Just needed to do something different

this time around though. 

I recently discovered loaded envelopes and

fell in love with the idea.

This is the envelope,

and the goodies I loaded it with

for my partner.

 

Happy Halloween!