so many give aways AND dreaming of being

a designer. For a long time I have loved to look at magazines and dream of decorating my rooms in fanciful styles. Country has been my style of choice mainly. Financial constraints and other priorities have often gotten in the way (things like travel to Australia and Kenya, a couple of other places, and also health issues). But I do try to be surrounded by beautiful things within our budget. After the fire in our home last May I was given the opportunity to redecorate some of the rooms. I did not allow myself to get very brave with colour. That will happen when I decorate in my studio in the months to come. Some of the spaces have just started being in a place I hold proud. This slideshow brings to you some of those new scenarios as well as some older spaces which I treasure.

There are SO MANY give aways happening these days. I'll be announcing my own in the one world one heart give away in the next day or two. One that ends tomorrow is here:

Please check out the beautiful LILY art by Erin Bowe.
Stay tuned for lots more links to the give aways. And please mark yourself as a follower if you have not already done so ♥

Just wanted to say:
HAPPY MAY DAY







I also wanted to share with you another fabulous blog which I had found a few weeks ago and then forgotten about. The blog is that of "the colour guru" from Australia. I especially love the most recent slideshow Keron recently completed. AND I am totally green with envy because she mentions something of an art retreat with Misty Mawn. Sigh.

I was hoping to introduce another video and more items to my etsy but... Well, I'll say I was trying to fly. You can interpret it any way you want (:

I think I just figured out that I have swacks too much vintage material to be working with right now. YES! I shall not be bored for another few centuries, as if.

Must toodle ooh. I'll leave you with this image of a project I'm not certain about - if I'm finished or not. What do you think of it? It says something of which I must reassure myself frequently.

"You make my day award" - Quite a number of days ago my dear friend Suze presented me with this wonderful award: Thanks Suze. I would like to present it back to you and I would also like to give it to Elena, Susan, Darcy, Mandy, Debra, Mary Ann, Lisa, and Karen. While Elena does not have a blog she is very dear to me. I'm not certain if Lisa has one now either. Regardless, she also deserves the award. As it is to be passed on to up to ten other recipients I will suggest they can pass it to someone verbally. thanks to each and every one of you that sends me angels. They are so very appreciated.

A bit of creating, playfulness in past few days. I especially want to share as I have chosen to join creative every Day. I'll have to get the button here soon. I will also talk more about it another day.





I have tossed together another slideshow which you can find here.
Please remember to click on original view on top right side. There's not really new art on it but it appears in a different way. It also reminds me of creations I have done in the past.

I am trying very much to do more cleaning - inside my thoughts and inside my play space in the basement. If I seem to be slow in commenting, visiting, creating, know I am working with these hugest of tasks.

Angels be with you,
Wendy

welcome winter:
On this official first day of winter I cannot help but reflect on winters past as our daughter was growing and we held "welcome winter" parties. I got the idea from a book I read that was written by missionaries who wrote of Christmas celebrations in countries to which they had been missionaries. Certainly the commercial aspect was de-emphasized. Just a couple of things I remember them suggesting were the ideas of no toys that were violent in nature and no toys that were requiring batteries. Wow - practically impossible these days. For younger children it makes much better sense. I still go with the idea of letting them use their own imaginations.
The idea that really caught my attention was that of trying to spread out Christmas and the entire season and not making it into a one day celebration. Saint Nicolas day is celebrated in Humboldt typically with a visit and treat bags for the children. This year there was actually a parade. I have no idea how that turned out because the day was bitterly cold. Our very spoiled (I mean privileged) daughter received a gift from St. Nik for many years. I actually had something for her this year too but she happened to be in a really terrible mood after school so I chose to have St. Nik not visit this year. After all she is 16 years old. She was quite perturbed when I pointed out that it was St. Nik day and he had not left her anything.
The authours also wrote about celebrating the twelve days of Christmas referring to the days beginning on December 25, and after Christmas leading to Epiphany. One year we gave our daughter, Cat, little gifts for each of the 12 days of Christmas. We also for many years did advent candles, not in a wreath but in a basket.
The welcome winter party was suggested for the first day of winter, December 20. Because it is the shortest day of the year candles were recommended. We had great celebrations on these occasions. If the weather was decently warm we had the festivities outside. If it was very dreadfully cold or stormy we met inside. We had babies some years together with other ages . Games and popcorn were typical. Apple cider was frequently prepared. Seems to me one year we had about 30 people. Sigh. These days I shy from inviting one or two people at any time. But that's another story.
I nearly forgot to draw your attention also to this story written by my poet friend Tom Sketching. It fits so aptly with what I am trying to say: Christmas in the Yucatan.

In my tendency to look for time to be still and contemplate during this advent season, I took a little excursion yesterday to St. Pete's at Muenster. I was going to visit a friend but also took the opportunity to walk in the beautiful grounds. The trees are fabulous and the angels must have been with me because I'd planned the day about a week previously. Yesterday happened to be a most glorious sun drenched day while we have been blessed with much cloud and fog otherwise. It was also probably one of the most warm days in the past six- eight weeks. And so I snapped away. Especially peaceful moments came when the chickadees and a nuthatch or two came very close by. It is a favourite visiting place for many folk that love nature and the critters. The birds frequently are fed by the visitors. While I had run out of time to bring food along for them, I certainly encountered the birds. I was not really able to get photos however. They preferred to sit on my hat, the camera or the tripod. One seemed to want to give me a kiss. God was truly speaking to me yesterday.
Please enjoy some of the beauty I encountered while you watch this slideshow. Please click on "original view" in top right side.

Angels be with you,
Wendy

being creative everyday:
Participating in art everyday month is a different sort of challenge for me. It's not so much about actually being creative. It's more about trying to share with you what I all DO create in a day. Typically I do much creating. I often can do much writing in my mind. I am fortunate to remember, usually, what I've written in my mind. You can find some of the latest writing I've done at windyangelsandyou. I often write long hand now so I've backgrounds for my artjournal pages.
I was realizing that much of the time I create in larger numbers but don't necessarily complete much in a single day. Then suddenly it seems I've completed lots. It's like with the tags. I often work on them when I'm on a road trip with Greg. These were started one time when I was waiting at the hair stylists.



With sewing it works well because it makes sense when I'm using the machine to do more stitching at the same time as opposed to doing a couple of seams and then needing to sit down again another time. When I'm putting printer images onto fabric I work with more pieces at the same time also.
The flat canvases were kind of accidental. I have the tendency to put out far too much paint at one time. Then I run to get more surfaces on which to apply the paint. Some day I might learn.

Here's a journal page I completed last night. The words are here.



I've also put together another slideshow with the journal pages. They are so much fun to make - the slideshows and the journal pages. If you click on the show it will take you to a larger version. You need to click on "original", top right side. This show is dedicated to Suze.

While reading Autumn to our small writer's group a few nights ago, I realized as I was reading, through the rich images - "heathery scarves, warmth of wool", "pumpkins, squash and gourds" that I do too still love autumn even though... most of the leaves have already fallen from the trees and we've had teensy-eensy sprinklings of snow that vanish as quickly.

I would mention that if you want to see a larger version of the slideshow and also be able to see the others I've made you can click on "view all images".

Happy Autumn!