For a sea of endless days raindrops have been stringing themselves like glistening Swarovski Crystals onto a vine like necklace...
Droplets gathered themselves onto tiny beginning buds...
The roses were weeping...
Heads bowed in silent reverence for the lives and homes lost in the recent swath of storms sweeping across the US...
Would you join me in lifting those touched by the recent storms in prayer? 
The little pile of left over vintage supplies sat resting in a shallow glass dish like cast offs waiting to be sorted with their like kind or possibly made over into something special. Small and insignificant, not really large enough to be kept but just wonderful enough to be crafted with, they waited.
One day fingers sifted through the minuscule parts, touching vintage pearls and paste stones from an old broken necklace, a snippet of French wire beading, a scrap of ivory silk, a piece of old hand written text, a glass bead, mother of pearl buttons, little pieces of fabrics and ribbons, metal braided brass trim, even an old rusty washer, caressing each one while willing them to reveal their intended design.
Splayed out they resembled something royal and regal in tone and texture. Little fragments of history, pieces of someones life; clothing, jewelry, buttons, trims and lace that once graced and adorned flesh and bone. Text that was illegibly scribbled by a human hand. It seemed only fitting and honoring to mold them into something representative of their previous owners, all of whom were women.
They were arranged and rearranged, snipped, molded, glued, sewn, and manipulated in a most unusual manner to form a tiny ladies slipper...
Whom ever the women were that wore the faded paste jewel and pearl necklace, 
The ivory silk blouse with mother of pearl buttons,
Who crocheted the lace, 
Or beaded the French wire designs, 
Or scribbled on a piece of paper,
I hope they are honored by this tribute to their feminine qualities. The inspiration of their past is carrying over into my present infusing and influencing my designs using little pieces of texture and textiles from their lives.
Creativity, in this case, really was a matter of turning up what was already there before me, a scattering of supplies and the spirit of the women whose touch still lingered on the objects inspiring this tribute to the mystique of all things feminine.
I hope you all have a wonderfully blessed Easter weekend!
I wanted to drop in and say a quick hello and to let you know that I am still here! Thank you all so very much for all the heartfelt prayers and messages of encouragement and healing for my mother. She has completed a huge part of the testing process and we now have some answers. We were fortunate to be working with one of the top neurologists in the United States, he and his staff have been wonderful. 
Doves mate for life, are incredibly loyal to each other and work together to build their nest and raise their young. Because they tend to nest in areas that humans can watch, people picked up quickly on the idea that doves were dedicated, honorable, and peaceful.
While hawks and other birds of prey would violently attack their neighbors, the dove was a bird of peace, eating seeds, easily trained to eat out of the hand or to become domesticated.
Beginning with the Egyptians, the dove was a symbol of quiet innocence. The Chinese felt the dove was a symbol of peace and long life.
To the early Greeks and Romans, doves represented love and devotion, and care for a family. The dove was the sacred animal of Aphrodite and Venus, the goddesses of love. The dove also symbolized the peaceful soul for many cultures.
The Bible continued this symbolism, often referring to the dove as an animal representing love, loyalty, fidelity, and honesty. The dove is entrusted with the olive branch when Noah hopes to find a new home for himself, his family, and his flock. The dove often also represents the Holy Spirit.
Today I will be following in the ideal of the early Greeks and Romans in love, devotion, and care of family. Today my mom enters a hospital 45 minutes away for a 5 to 7 day stint of testing. Violent storms are predicted for our area today and she is afraid of storms. I am praying God's peace will cover her like the wings of a dove and will linger in her heart and mind keeping her calm in the face of both physical and emotional storms during this week.
