Not the Paris of my dreams

Parris Island bound....My son Drew goes to Marine boot camp June 1st. He wants to serve his country....no amount of talking from mom and dad could sway him. I am very proud of him, I must say.


photo A heart in Provence

I will find calm in my beliefs that all is for the good of God.I will tend my garden and think good thoughts. I will write him letters to tell him he is missed, and yes there will be some tears.....



Joy.........................always

TAAAAAA DUhhhh

Here is the lovely felted rose pin that I made at the Inspired retreat.

Here is my primer...sort of. It was just an hour class.

And here is what I need to finish...now mind you, she used that disappearing transfer...so if I fool around to long there will be no image to stitch! I must say I so enjoyed playing with needle and thread again. It has been such a long time. I forgot how relaxing it can be. I also want to try my hand at free form stitching on my sewing machine. I just need to find some time...maybe this summer.

Joy................................always

Need nap now!

I spent 3 days...full, very full days, at the Inspired artist workshop in Concord NC. I mostly volunteered as I did not find out until after I had already spent my class taking money for my Penland trip....and we all know how that went...what a TRIP that was!. I still had a wonderful time and will definitely be a student next year. I will also volunteer as it is a great way to see all the talent that shows up at these retreats.

This is Pam Garrison(on the left). I have followed her blog for some time. She is so creative. Her work makes my heart soar. She is the sweetest, and also very funny. Also, pictured is her very good friend Amy Hanna, equally talented. It was a great time just watching Pam create her journal covers and pages. It helps to see the creative process as it occurs. The first photo is of the banner that she did to hang outside her class, it was raffled and went to a very lucky someone!

Here are a couple covers she brought with her.

This is a close up of an apron that was worn....got to love it!

This is a bouquet from my garden that I brought in for Pam, I wanted her to know what an inspiration that she has been to me. I knew the gift from my garden would convey that.

From CD Muckosky's class. I volunteered in her class and had not know of her before this meeting. She is a young mother and very dear. She is an old soul in a young body. I love the way that she finds everyday objects and uses then to journal with. Above she used an everyday envelope.

She uses gripper lining for drawers as a paint stencil and then will reuse that piece and sew a bird to it( not a real bird, something she has drawn and cut out of paper)....she really opened your eyes to see possibilities!

This is a shot of the work table in her class, can we say FUN!

flowers seemed to be a theme for the weekend.

And I need to make me my very own of this!

Donna Downey and her husband Bill were the utmost of host. You could tell that they had given from the heart. They had great teachers and great support staff. Donna has opended a store locally and I look forward to finding my way there! I will show you a couple of the things I made a bit later this week. I made a felt rose that I adore.

Joy.....................all ways!

Look what is finally coming home!!

My Singer Featherweight.....oh yeah....finally!!! When we moved here from California there was not a stitch of room left to tuck one item. It is beyond me How this got left behind. I have thought so many times of items that made it...how on earth did I bring roses dug from the garden and not my Singer Featherweight. I didn't even have a yard to put the roses in. I guess that just shows the stress you are under when moving across the country. I could not even imagine the difficulty that woman of wagon train days went through to pick and choose well loved items. This well loved item was at least hunkered down in the rafters of my step son's garage. I have been kneading my husband for years to get it here....This year for Mother's day I told him he gets me my Singer or he buys me a new OLD one!!!! He knew the replacement price, I was very vocal about what it would cost him through the years. I guess he knew I was serious this year. The phone call came yesterday along with this picture. It will be on it's way home tomorrow. Poor thing needs some TLC...but I am sure it will be purring away in no time. I just keep telling my husband how happy I am...you know a replacement would just never be the same....lucky girl am I.

Joy...........................always

It's a start...

Here is the aisle that you will find my space at The Depot in Concord NC

J9

Here I made lemonade out of lemons...iron post in my way.....vintage images made into floral magnets!!!!

My husband put this shef unit together for me. reclaimed wood, and some shoe drying racks from a hotel. Clever, clever...now to just get it filled!

Here is the beginning of my new endeavor....wow do I need to go on a buying trip or what?

I love this place. It is called The Depot. It is a Cannon fabric mill that closed in winter of 2003 and was purchased by and investment firm to keep the buildings intact. The antique mall opened Febuary. I must say that I am excited to be back in the bizzzzzzz......

A Sunday morning walk in the garden...

I find myself rather busy gathering items for the antique space that I am about to open. Last night I was out late at an auction....so a morning in the garden was a quite pleasure worth sharing!



Joy ................................always