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?