Thankful HeArt and Day Tripping...

After I received the lovely HeArt from Manu (linked to post) and blogged about it I received some lovely comments. One of the comments was "oooooh I love Sacred Hearts. So very beautiful. I would love to have a few in my collection of pretty things. Hope you're having a wonderful day."  This came from Holly of HollyLovesArt blog.  Those of you who follow me know I love to surprise my faithful followers from time to time.  I contacted Holly and obtained her mailing address.  This is the HeArt I created and mailed to her.  My favorite things...lace, tulle, seam binding, ribbon, marble, charms and beads are what I used to create this for Holly.

The back just to let her know where it came from.  Holly was very pleased.  I hope you visit her blog and see her adorable Phoebe fur-child.  Holly does some amazing art that is wonderful.

After I spent the past week in jury duty, Mr. C and I decided to join our car club and take a little day trip to Jelly Belly.  If you haven't ever been and like candy then you will enjoy the tour and gift shop. Oh and they hand out samples!  On this trip Mr. C's Lotus V8 Twin Turbo Esprit turned 30,000 miles.  Quite the milestone!  We had a lovely day and visited with many friends we don't get to see very often.  This photo of me is with my friend Catherine who has tried and tried to help me learn French.  I am afraid she must give up as I just do not have the flair for language like I would like to have.

This is coming into the perfect weather for Mr. C to be driving his beloved car and enjoying it. However on the drive home it decided to blow the left turbo seal.  That is a very bad thing!  I am just sick over this for him.  It will require an entire engine removal and rework.  I am hoping the downstairs project can be completed before he begins this massive project. The weather was perfect and we did have a lovely drive...until we were about 10 miles from home.  Of course he limped his baby home to tuck it safely into its garage and snuggle cover. Such a beautiful car it is!!!
I have lots of cleaning and chores and catching up to do.  I missed all of you and your happenings.  I missed my commitments for all of last week and now need to get super busy.  Jury Duty honestly exhausted me and each evening I couldn't even function.  I found it to be extremely stressful.  I certainly learned the definition of ad-nauseam. Thankfully we completed our task late on Friday and did not have to extend into this week.  Whew!
Spring is here and the birds are singing.  The pollen is falling and the earth is dry.  Plants are begging for water.  I seriously need a crew to help me with everything...however I shall merely tackle each task and do what I can knowing Life Is Good and I am so very fortunate.
May you be enjoying Spring and Creative Bliss...

Sparrow Takes Flight...

Last month I decided I would stitch one of these little Sparrow blocks for Jenny's Operation Sparrow. Jenny of elefantz blog is such a sweet lady and offered her precious design free to those of us who wanted to participate.  Thank you sew very much Jenny.  If you wish to participate it is not too late.

I first stitched this one in a Sulky varigated blue thread.  I wasn't very happy with the single thread look and I just knew I could do a better job if I tried.

Today my little Sparrow took flight to Operation Sparrow.  He didn't fly alone.  I stitched a companion for the Operation.

This little Sparrow wanted to be shades of yellow and gold.  Sew...I used DMC thread with two strands together to get much better coverage of my stitching lines.  Both little Sparrows are happy and glad they can go to a good home and help others.  Safe Flight my little Sparrows...
I have enjoyed putting needle and thread to fabric and creating something "Tweet".  I look forward to continuing my stitching fun.  Now with the daylight lasting longer into the evening I just might be able to stitch while "viewing" (I really listen more than I watch) TV in the evening with Mr. C.  I have shared before that there can be no lights on during TV time as they distract him.  It is the only time he sits still for a few minutes and the least I can do is sit with him like he wants me to do.
I see so many of you are actually finding Spring arriving in your neighborhoods.  The promise of new leaves and flowers and hearing the birds singing is miraculous and I never tire of it.  Spring Sunshine to all.  Thank you for leaving your comments which I adore reading.  I am able to sneak in a little more time to visit your blogs now so I am a very happy girl.  Creative Spring Bliss...

March Banner Swap...

Errata:  I apologize for mistakingly crediting Linda for creating and gifting me with this HeArt Banner.  It was actually Becky F. and I am sad to say she has no blog to share with you.  I am by my own admission trying to do too many things and too quickly.  I am sorry to have mislead anyone.

Once again I received a lovely package in my mail.  I do enjoy a surprise and participating in swaps is a great way to ensure my mail doesn't contain only bills or junk and catalogues.  A Swap For All Seasons is one of my favorites and this year we are creating and swapping 4" x 6" fabric banners.

This is created by Linda of Lambsworld blog.  Thank you very much Linda for I love this HeArt theme.

Each element has a lovely significance.  The little muslin bag creates a pocket which holds a tag.

The tag has a sweet image of a little girl and a heart charm.  The clothspins are super cute and focus on the twill which says, "youv'e captured my heart".  I love everything about this banner!  I will share the one I made and mailed after I know my package has been received.

Downstairs update.  Even my camera cannot escape the dust as it settles this quickly on my lens. You can see all the milky looking dots.  Let me just say Portland Cement dust is nasty!  It is like the worst ALIEN invasion ever!!  Mr. C likes to literally point out the dust covering every surface by running his fingers through it.  Well, that merely adds another level to my cleaning as his finger marks make the gritty dust actually adhere to the surface whether it be wood, granite, leather or other.  I am truly considering my cleaning efforts to be the very best Olympic Gold Medal winning work I have ever achieved!!!  From ceiling to floors you will find me rising to my challenge.  I am not able to be creative in my studio at this time however I am finding ways to be creative in my cleaning. Yesterday I spent the entire day removing and cleaning and re-organizing three "lawyer" style bookcases in the downstairs office.  I even purged a few outdated catalogues and phone books I found.  This is actually a good exercise for me and I am grateful for this opportunity to hone my cleaning skills.
March is rushing along and the days are very Spring lovely with Sunshine and blossoms and new green leaves sprouting everywhere.  May you be enjoying your days in wonderful creative ways...

Feather & Steel Heart...

This beautiful HeArt of Feather and Steel came to me via Manu of VintageSavonette blog.  It is even more amazing in person and I am truly grateful to receive such an lovely gift.  Thank you Manu!

I am always amazed at the creativity that abounds all over this world we live in.  With simple pieces of fabric, lace, paper, metal, beads and ribbon comes a very unique and stunning piece of art from the hands of a lovely and very creative lady.  Please visit and spend some quality time to see what Manu is creating.

Our world is a better place for the love of making Art and sharing from generous souls like Manu.  I love my Feather and Steel HeArt and will enjoy seeing it everyday in my creative happy space.
We had the slightest chance of rain for this morning.  The weather man said maybe just a sprinkle. Thankfully it is doing just that...a slight sprinkle and I just had to go outside and do my grateful happy rain dance.  Thank you Water Gods.

As for the remodel...we are in a complete cloud of constant dust.  I clean this hall cabinetry every day and begin with a shiny dust-free surface.  This is just in a few hours.  You can see the white haze covering everything...in every room...upstairs as well as downstairs.  Today I begin anew with cleaning...dusting, vacuuming, sweeping.  No complaints from me though.  Poor Mr. C is honestly hating this routine of grinding and chipping the previous tile mortar off the cement floor.  It is making him bone weary and I do feel ever so helpless.  I honestly wish for him we had not undertaken such a massive project.  I'm off to clean and clean and clean.
I am sorry to not be visiting your blogs as often as I would like.  I truly miss each of you and will be very thankful when I can get time to enjoy what you are creating.  My studio is closed for now.
Creative Bliss My Friends...

Winter Weather Wedding...

We braved the -4F degree weather in Minneapolis Minnesota to attend the wedding of our very best "son" and his fiancee.  Brad and Amy were so happy and we could not be any happier for them both.

Brad and Mr. C get into lots of fun and "trouble" when they get together and do extreme outdoor sports.  All of Amy's family is in Minnesota and knowing how Brad loves the snow and cold that is how the wedding came to be in Minneapolis in Winter.  The daytime temperature was 8F degrees and I had not experienced that before and I am still shivering.  Mostly I stayed indoors and when I explored I walked the skywalks they have that link buildings together.

This is the happy newly married couple having their first dance.  Everyone had a wonderful time.

Lots of the wedding attendees went curling at the Frogtown Curling Club.  I did not go as I was warned it was very cold.

Lots of fun to be had by the folks with strong backs.  Mr. C went and had some good fun.

From Minneapolis we flew to Detroit and then on to Little Rock Arkansas.  We visited Mr. C's sister and her husband.  The day before we were to fly home Little Rock had Winter storm "Thor" who deluged snow and ice upon the land.  We were stranded for a day.  Our flight from Little Rock to Atlanta was quite the comedy of errors.  Folks in Little Rock are NOT prepared to deal with snow and ice and had no idea how to function.  No taxi to the airport, McDonalds closed and left us with no food, the TravelLodge had nothing to offer us.  Thankfully I travel with some protein bars.  By the Grace of God we finally got a ride from a man who worked at the airport property and he drove us to catch our flight.  No rush as everything was delayed for hours.  By the time we finally got back to San Francisco exhaustion and starvation was the only report.  Delta didn't even have peanuts on board.  We are definitely so thankful to be safely home even if it was a day late.  Air travel is quite the trial.
While we were gone we had one good day of rain.  Still no snow.  The sun is shining and every plant is sprouting new green leaves and blossoms are abundant in gardens everywhere.
Now I must get busy with chores...unpacking, laundry, grocery shopping, housecleaning, lots of downstairs reno still to do and of course prepare for 2014 taxes.  I would honestly enjoy being outdoors cleaning up the yard and weeding but not today and probably not tomorrow.  And I do hope I can fit in some time for Creative Bliss.  I shall also be squeezing in bits of time to catch up on your blogs and what you have been doing.  I had no computer or access while gone so I have missed so much.  Thank you for your comments which I read and enjoy.  May those of you with too much cold and snow begin seeing signs of Spring.  Blessings y'all...