Seasons: Summer

First of all...

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!

All of your comments, emails, prayers and thoughts have meant so much to me... thank you from the bottom of my heart! I have started regaining strength and, most days, feel like my old self again. Also, some good news, the Doc says I can put the surgery off until after Silver Bella! (That gives me "happy feet"!)

Now, let me show you a bit of "Summer". I got together with the ladies I'm doing the Seasons altered books with, and we swapped. We each did the first season, Summer, in our own books. Here's mine...

(sorry for the not so great photo)
When I think of Summer colors, two very different color combos come to mind. Turquoise and red with a bit of crisp white... makes me think of boardwalks and saltwater taffy and old striped beach cabanas. The other, and the one that always plucks my heart strings the loudest, are the colors of the Caribbean. This is the direction I went, softly.

I took the last quatrain, of Shakespeare's Sonnet 18, out of context to use on the page...
"But thy eternal summer shall not fade
Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest;
Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou growest:
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives and this gives life to thee."

Here are some close ups.

The image is from AlphaStamps.

Layers of papers, gesso, paint and watercolor. Waves of sand and fine silver glass glitter.

I wrote the quote out with my dip pen. I've been doing a lot playing with this. Initially we did not see eye to eye and did a lot of fighting. I really wanted it to produce gorgeous mid 1800s penmanship. It refused. And that's okay, now. It showed me that I can be happy with my own handwriting.

The morning of the swapping, I decided I needed something to transport and keep my journal in, so I took a retired pillowcase and turned it into an envelope and closed it up with a pin and some millinery.

Next up, for this swap, will be Autumn in Nina's book.

If you are here in the US, enjoy the rest of your holiday weekend!

Bluebirds and Friendship

Bluebirds and Friendship are the two things that I am most grateful for this weekend.

If you know me, you know of my obsession with Bluebirds. I own several glass Bluebird figurines... two of which are very special to me because of whom they came from.

We unfortunately don't have Bluebirds here in my neck of the woods (or I should say city), but if I drive a few hours east and into the actual woods, I can see them. I worry that someday I may give my Farmboy a heart attack from my impulsive squeal of "follow that bird" as we are driving through East Texas. I get so delightfully excited when I spot one!

Anyway, for me Bluebirds represent "happiness". And that is exactly what I felt, after the initial surprise, when I opened an unexpected package from my sweet friend Whitney.


Whitney made this lovely lariat Bluebird necklace and said that as soon as it was finished, she knew that it had to be sent to me. Thank you Whitney!!! I absolutely LOVE it!


I am truly amazed by the generosity and kindness I continually find here in blogland... which leads me into the subject of friendship.

Whitney and I met through Artsy Mama's "Vintage Party Swap". This was a first time swap for the both of us and seriously, I couldn't have been given a better swap partner! It's going on a year since that first swap and Whitney and I have continued to stay in touch through our blogs and email and our friendship has grown.

2008 really seems to be the "friendship" year for me. Much like mine and Whitney's friendship, I have had other cyber friendships blossom into something sweet and lovely.

I've met so many nice ladies and made so many new friends though different parts cyber space... Blogland, Etsy, LolliShops, Silver Bella, TwilightMoms and Meetup.com. Some I have had the pleasure of meeting in person thanks to Silver Bella and others I am just lucky to live close enough to, so we are able to get together on a fairly regular basis.

So these are two things that bring me happiness and that I am extremely grateful for this Thanksgiving week... Bluebirds and Friendship.

I've decided to go out of town with my Farmboy this coming week, so I probably won't be around here. I hope you all have a very beautiful, safe and happy Thanksgiving!

I'm SO Busy...

... but wanted to pop in and say Thank You for all of the lovely comments you all have left for me on the last three posts!

(the image of the girl is from Mind Wide Open)

Gratitude

This is my word for the year. I thought it was a good time to revisit it and tell you all how grateful to you I am.

Thank you for stopping by as often as you do and taking the time to read the babble of my life and actually leave comments about it all. If it weren't for ya'll, I would never have pushed myself in the artistic direction I have, I never would have had the guts to open two Esty shoppes (and coming soon a Lollishop shoppe!), I never ever would have had the guts to register for something as grand and far away from home as Silver Bella! So again, I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

The little "gratitude birdie" above will soon be flying off to her new home. I have several other little "gratitudes" sitting on my desk, amongst all of the other half finished projects, waiting for their finishing touches. Then they too can be sent to their new homes.

I hope you all have a beautiful Thursday!

Home, Love, Family

I have so much to share, but today's post is the most special of them all. So it gets a day just to itself.

Several weeks ago I read a blog post from Tammy. It broke my heart to hear her so sad. So I decided maybe there was some small little thing I could do for her that might possibly make her feel a little better. A few days later I had my own sadness that I was trying to deal with. She, in turn, understood how I was feeling, so we decided to each send the other something to help with the hurt.
Saturday evening when I got home a package from Tammy was sitting on the table. As I opened it all words completely escaped me! But then I didn't really need them. Tammy had provided all of the words that were truly important for me.
HOME, LOVE, FAMILY
Those were the three words she had carefully engraved into metal for me. Where they could never fade from time and where I could "keep them close to my heart" forever. Tammy reminded me what is truly important. It's not the physical location of the people and places I love. What is important is to always keep them preserved in the warmth and love of my heart.

I didn't realize it at the time, but my farmboy was taking pictures...



Tammy, from the bottom of my heart I thank you for everything!

xo xo
Alisa

Gratitude

Every January Ali Edwards writes a post on "One Little Word". I think this is a brilliant idea. I have played along the last two years. You pick a word that you want to focus on and live by for that entire year. This year the word I picked was gratitude.
I have to say that is exactly what I am feeling right now. I am so grateful to all of you who wrote and sent such heart-warming, kind words. I know that in the big picture of it all, my "parent sadness" is small beans. But despite the smallness of it, you wonderful ladies (who have never even met me face to face) thought about me and sympathized or empathized and offered me hugs and shoulders. I truly cannot say Thank You enough. I am very grateful to each of you.
Gratitude hugs for everyone.
Alisa