BLOG FRIENDS ARE THE BEST...

Friends are kisses blown to us by angels.

-Author Unknown-Over the holidays I was virtually showered with all sorts of bloggy friend love and I can't thank each and every one of you enough for all your sweet comments, emails, cards, and even gifts, none of which I expected or even feel like I deserve. Blog friends really are the best, most kind, and thoughtful people. I treasure each and every one of you and am daily thankful to be a part of such a wonderful community.

I wanted to share some of the bloggy kindness I received over the holidays but before I do that I would love to share a new to blogging friend with you, Amy of Vintage ClubHouse. Amy and I " met" over the holidays when I read this wonderful post about A Special Gift that she made. Amy gave me permission to use a few photos to show you a little peek into her beautiful blog. A Christmas cone she created...A scrapbook page of her gorgeous holiday table...And what is not to love about seeing this sunrise each morning from her deck...Breath taking! I hope you will hop over and give Amy a big warm bloggy welcome.

I made a casual mention that I was looking for a certain type of button in a past post and precious blogger, Teresa of Maggie Grace Creates, sent me a note that she had just the buttons I was looking for. Being one of those sweet as peach pie Georgia gals, she offered to send me the buttons and I offered to pay her and she refused so I suggested a swap and she said no, so finally I relented and let her send them to me and I in return sent her a little goodie package anyway. Well, she not only sent the buttons I was looking for to finish out my studio window treatments but a whole bunch of wonderful buttons...And gorgeous laces...And colorful punched tags...
I plan to use these on the bottom of some larger spring themed tags I have in mind, perfect!

And the sweetest and most unusual note I have ever seen and it is edged in green, my favorite color!!!It all came wrapped it the prettiest tissue paper with green printing and I just had to use it in some way. I loved the note made from an old Christmas card scene and the delicate handmade edging so much that I wanted to preserve it and enjoy it. I made up a 3D paper star from some sturdy card stock and collaged some of the tissue paper over the top of it. After it was dry I inked the edges and ridges of the star and then brushed on a light coat of glue and dusted it with glitter. I added a little glue to the snow on the note card and dusted it with glitter too and then glued it to the center of the star...I now have a precious keepsake and holiday ornament to remember the kindness of a sweet blog friend who blessed me buttons and friendship!

And, as if that was not enough goodie goodness, I won a give away at Rebecca's A Re-Purposed Life! A package arrived on my doorstep on Christmas eve morning bearing the most beautiful glass trees I have ever seen! They made the winter scene on my dining table pure enchantment...These say " winter" to me and I can enjoy them far longer than just the Christmas season. Rebecca also tucked in a gorgeous Christmas tag that she made...And then a package came from my sweet blog friend Diane of Diane Knott's Musings. Cheeky girl, she sent me the most adorable bee hive pin cushion you have ever seen... She said this one would not sting, a little reminder of the wasp encounter I had earlier this summer. I love it and it is scented with the most wonderful fragrant lavender! I perched a little bumble bee from my studio stash on it...Just look at this pretty detail around the hive entrance...This thing is so cute that there won't be any pins stuck in it, I love it on my studio settee as a tiny little pillow and that is where it is staying. You can find sweet, like this bee hive, as well as stunning creations on Diane's Etsy store, Cottage By The Pond. My husband got me a Christmas gift from there and I love it! I'll post on it in another post.

She also included one of her yummy delicious art tags...OK, as if I had not been spoiled rotten enough, a suspicious yellow box that I distinctly remember sending to a blog friend, Sonya of Counting My Blessings, had returned itself to me FULL of goodies...There were vibrant red and green goodies...Patel pretties...Rich textural neutrals...And the icing on the cake of kindness, a beautiful wooden box...That Sonya altered inside with the most beautiful verse of Scripture...And nestled inside was a handmade gift, a vintage altered tart tin snowflake ornament!What in the world can a girl say to this kind of showering of love? Thank you hardly seem adequate and since everything tastes, looks, and sounds better in French, I offer these sweet friends a simple but heartfelt...Gifts are never ever necessary or expected here at the Quill but the one thing that is always readily and eagerly received is your friendship. I think of you often, love you much, cherish the time you take out of your day to spend a few minutes of it here, and pray sweet blessings rain down on your day!

TIME MARCHES ON...

A New Years Prayer
-Anonymous-

Dear Lord, please give me…
A few friends who understand me and remain my friends;
A work to do which has real value,
without which the world would be the poorer;
A mind unafraid to travel, even though the trail be not blazed;
An understanding heart;
A sense of humor;
Time for quiet, silent meditation;
A feeling of the presence of God;
The patience to wait for the coming of these things,
With the wisdom to recognize them when they come.
Amen.

It seems like 2010 just marched right on by and now we are stepping across the threshold of a brand new year. I always feel excited at what possibilities a new year might hold. Oh, I am not Pollyanna enough to think that there won't be a few bumps along the way but I prefer to focus on the happy moments in life. 2010 was no exception, there were plenty of bumps and lots and lots of happy!I thought it might be fun to look back over this last year of blogging and share my 2010 memorable or meaningful blog moments...

From January 2010 my favorite reflective moment was documented in Reflections of the Land of My Heart, a post that traces my footsteps of healing the heart and coming to terms with grief and loss...From February 2010 came possibly the craziest tutorial in the history of blogdom, Going Nuts, a tutorial that shows how to turn pistachio nut shells into mini bird eggs for using in art projects...From March 2010 came one of the most fun swaps I have ever done, a Collaborative Birdhouse. Diane Knott and I swapped pieces of projects we had started and then finished the project and returned it. This was hands down one of my favorite things I created this year...In April 2010 I hit one of those bumps in the road and was tossed out of my studio space into a new one plus our lives were rapidly changing, empty nest, change of job, extended family turmoil, lingering sickness, etc. and my angst came out in my reaction to saying, Bye-Bye Midsummers Dream Blue, Hello Red Calico...May 2010 was a toss up between pivotal moments of learning the art of Blending Beauty when life is messy... And the Trans-farm-ation and healing that takes place over the span of time and space...June 2010 was a very slim posting month, I had an extended bout of sickness but roused enough to share a few Birthday Musings to mark the beginning of my 47th year...July 2010 found me making peace with my circumstances in My Gifts from the Sea...
and fostering The Fruit of Friendship...August 2010 found me looking at the lighter side of life while stepping away from the studio for what was supposed to be a relaxing weekend away in You Might be a Die Hard Crafter If...September 2010 was the last delectable sip of summer spending A Simple Silly Day at the Farm before autumn set in...October 2010 was another one of those months with a bump in the road of life when I found humor in having My Nose a Little Out of Joint...November 2010 finally saw the fruit of my labor, after months of being sick, suffering from an allergic reaction to a wasp sting, getting bit by a brown recluse, and a ton of other setbacks I found myself making friends with my new studio and now consider it A Sweet Place to Dream...December 2010 wrapped up one crazy year, another bout of sickness and a couple of allergic reactions later was about more Christmas drama than I cared to experience and then a mouse ate my Christmas tree, I had to have lots of naps and NyQuil, ending up with the most bizarre Christmas display to date here at the Quill, A Romantic Naturalist Melange Hillbilly Chic Kind of Christmas...In a lot of ways this was a rough year here at the Quill but there were so many joys to offset the sorrows, one of those being the friendships I have formed here in the land of blog and the amazing support and encouragement that is ever present. It has been my joy and privilege to spend a year with you all.

And how is 2011 fairing so far? It began with a bang, literally, fireworks going off on the horizon, brilliant sparks of colors peppering the midnight sky. It went from brilliant to bizarre upon waking this morning from a super strange dream, let's just say that watching a show about a CIA operative, marshmallow fluff, Krazy glue, and pink fuzzy bunny slippers are a few things I should never be exposed to before sleep and leave it at that.

We had a beautiful sunny but cold day today in which I spent some time wandering around flea markets and procuring a few treasures and rounding out the day by looking back over my blogging year. There is usually a lot of crazy here at the Quill but this was just a quite reflective ordinary day with a pleasant surprise of a sweet little dream that is unfolding between the January issue of these pages...So January 2011 is off to a good start. You will find no resolutions here only hope for better tomorrows, joys that outweigh any sorrows, and wishes and prayers for grace to bear whatever this new year might hold. Praying this year will be the best you have ever experienced with your very own little dreams unfolding between the pages of your life book!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

GUESS WHAT I GOT FOR CHRISTMAS...

Guess what I got for Christmas? A computer virus! My poor laptop in hopefully on the mend, its operating systems are being restored as I type. While waiting on its recovery I am relegated to a dinosaur desktop with a quirky keyboard. I will return to the land of blog in the very near future when my cmoputer is fixed.

I hope you all got something much nicer than that!

Until then, I hope you all have a wonderful week!

MERRY CHRISTMAS...

(Image from Karen's Whimsy)

May Peace be your gift at Christmas and your blessing all year through!

-Author Unknown-

AN OFF THE CUFF CHRISTMAS...

Off the cuff: Impromptu, with little or no preparation or forethought(Creepy hand is a gift for darling daughter.)

Wow, does that describe Christmas in our house this year! The Christmas countdown has begun in earnest here at the Quill. There is a flurry of scurry in my step as I hit the homeward stretch of being " done". I am never " done" getting ready for Christmas but it arrives and declares me " done". I am more than ready for the declaration this year.

I did finish those scarves...And one cuff...(which I am giving myself as a gift, it matches my new sweater, read on to see why I needed a new sweater...)Lest you think only Handy Hubby's closet is susceptible to my occasional crafting needs, not so, the base of this cuff...one of my sweaters! Me thinks Santa might need to bring us some new clothes if this keeps up, that, or, I really need to get creative with dried oak leaves and a sewing machine!I found out we are having extra guests yesterday so I scrambled out and grabbed some gift cards and hopefully will pull off a little handmade gift to accompany them. I have two unfinished items on the worktable and will get those done this evening,a collage for my step-mother of her great grand children, all precious little girls...I am doing a separate one for my dad (which is barely started!) of his two great grands to match his home office, just a quick scrapbook style collage, I don't have much time left for fancyfying something because I plan to spend this whole afternoon with my best friend in an off the cuff moment of impromptu crafting. We are going to make some jewelry for her sweet daughters for Christmas. I am so looking forward to that!

Well, I'm off to dash out to the post office to get the give away goodies in the mail and to make a Hobby Lobby run for a last minute gift and then Hi Ho! Hi Ho! It is off to craft I go....

Have the very merriest!