Ready, Set, Go and an Etsy Shop Full

The Queen is on the move again !

My craft fair is done.

The results were not as good money-wise as I would have liked but David and I had a lot of fun with the people we met all day. We rocked it !

Now that all of that hard work is done, I am off to get some big LOVING

from some of my favorite kiddos on the planet !

Katie, Thomas and I have a date with some arts and crafts and some Christmas decorating at their house !

David will be home, taking care of the furry kids and manning the home front.

He will also be helping me out by filling any orders that come in from the Queen of Arts Studio Etsy shop.

I just added some new goodies to the shop today.

These sweet hand made clay ornaments

can reach you before the holidays and would be lovely on the tree or on a wrapped gift.

The same goes for my own favorites, theses paper love birds,

hand cut from an old French encyclopedia.

Also, some of you have been asking about having cards available with some of my original art pieces.

I have added some new ones into the shop

in both note card (4X5” on cardstock cards) and postcard format (4X6” in cello envelop ready for a note and and stamp to mail!)

And of course, bags of 13 Rock My World rocks are always available, if you want to make a special gift of them over the holiday season for someone who needs them !

So take a little peek in the Queen of Arts Studio shop if you are still working on completing that shopping list. My sweet Hubby Elf will get your order out asap !

(Thanks, David ! I love you !!!)

I won’t have a lot of access to the internet this week, but will be in touch when I get home on Friday.

Have a sweet week, Beautiful Ones !

Big Love !

Simple Woman’s Daybook–Monday, November 22,2010

For more Simple Woman’s Daybook, go here.

FOR TODAY
Outside my window...it is grey. The color of the end of November, leaves gone, branches bare, roofs and building wall showing, clouds in the sky…grey.

I am thinking...about how much color affects my mood…I have to be good about keeping the brights around me as the grey season goes on, I think.

I am thankful for...red, yellow, orange, green, purple, blue and turquoise. Grey, not so much.

From the learning rooms (known as Google in this case) the difference between affect and effect which was part of a brain fart this morning…

From the kitchen...recipes for Gluten Free Pumpkin Cheesecake which I am bringing to the Father-in-Law’s on Thursday – my sister-in-law was just diagnosed with Celiac Disease and while I won’t do the stuffing without bread crumbs, I sure can find a way to make sure she gets a sweet dessert !

I am wearing...grey (yikes!) pajama bottoms, a plum colored long sleeve t-shirt and my slippers (okay, my old, very, very beat up green El Naturalista clogs…)

I am creating... packages of notecards of my art work as gifts for the people in my Mom’s office – a contract from my lovely boss’s wife, Lottie. Profits from these will help me with my own Christmas gift giving ! Thanks, Lottie !

I am going...to stay home today and hang out in the studio, until Meditation Class tonight. Yay !

I am reading...nothing much really. Too ready for sleep when I hit the pillow to read. If you know of a really good book with a good story, funny, endearing, poignant and/or romantic without too much violence or horror stories of overcoming suffering, please let me know ! I will stay awake for that !

I am hoping...that all the Christmas gifties that I sent out last week to my Canadian Chickie friends arrive in good condition. December is next week. Crazy !!!!

(the packages for my Canadian Chickies – I am Day 9 – the gift is still a surprise !)

I am hearing...Azzy Cat purrs from behind me on the chair. We just finished a little lovefest of neck rubbing. His neck, my job to rub.

Around the house...quiet…greyish…Monday.

One of my favorite things...watching Azzy and Little Boo chase the new catnip Loofah Mouse I got them from Petco all around the house. I love it when the older guy, Azzy, really gets into it like a little kitten! Love my furry kiddos !

(Azzy and Little Boo do lunch.)

A few plans for the rest of the week: Meditation tonight, haircut tomorrow am, lunch with my newest girlfriend, the sassy, hilarious Susie Riley on Tuesday at noon and then, the Thanksgiving prep.begins on Wednesday. David and I will join his other 4 bros and their significant others at the Father-in-Law’s place on Thursday for the festivities.

Here is picture for thought I am sharing…

Blue Moon Shot form last night, November 21, 2010.

I love that the left over leaves on the bare branches look like upside down hearts…

Okay, I am off to fill the studio with some color and some happy tunes on this grey and quiet Monday am.

Happy Monday, Beautiful Ones !

Hope gives you wings...

So on Monday, I was reading my friend Patti Digh's blog and saw her call to write "a hope note (or 5) today".

You see, this woman named Liz Miller volunteers with an organization called Helpmate and she has launched a project calling for some community help and support.

Helpmate, a local nonprofit dedicated to serving victims of domestic violence, offers a 24-hour crisis line, a safe shelter and counseling. And it's always looking for ways to encourage the women and children who turn to the organization for assistance. Miller's project, Hope Notes, invites the community to write brief and encouraging messages on a card, which will then be given to clients served by Helpmate.

Now you know how I like to find was to spread the love, and that I love to find ways to use my art to touch others.

So of course, I was very inspired to make up some "hope notes" and send them off to the Asheville, NC address and help Liz and all involved in the Hope Notes project reach their goal of having as many cards are possible received by August 1, 2010.

I decided to use the technique I had so much fun with when I made some postcards for Hanna's Post Card swap a while back, and make some scrapped and sewn background papers.

Here's one sheet with blues and oranges...

and a second one with greens, some black and purple.

I glued all the bits and strips of papers down to a piece of card stock, covering the entire page.

Then I got out the sewing machine and went to town...

A little zig-zag stitch...

some crazy driving stitches...

and my paper was looking marvelous !!!!

I cut the sheets into 3.5 X 5 inch rectangles (Love my Fiskars Guillotine !).

Then I glued the rectangles onto blank 5 X 7" cardstock cards. I used rubber stamps and a couple of alphabet stencils and StazOn Black Ink to create the word "Hope" for each card.

I love how they turned out!

On the inside of each card, I hand-wrote my own little message of hope, using some lovely

quotes I had found on-line such as :

"Hope is knowing that people, like kites, are made to be lifted up." (unknown)

and signed them with my initials as the Hope Note project information suggested.

I imagined myself in the throws of a crisis and thought about what words or gestures would make me feel supported and less alone, and tried to make each note reflect that.

I will be mailing the cards off to Asheville tomorrow in a nice little package, with another note inside thanking Liz for her inspiration and for all she is doing to spread the love in her own community.

Maybe you would like to join in and send some Hope Notes of your own to Helpmates.

Or maybe someone closer to you could use a little hope note as well...

I encourage you to look for a way to touch someone else today, especially if today is a day when you feel a little helpless or blue.

It really does give your life meaning and make you feel powerful and loving.

And as this lovely quote I found says :

"What do we live for if not to make life less difficult for each other ?"

(George Eliot [pseudonym of Mary Anne or Marian Evans] (1819-1880).

Have a Happy Hope Day, Lovely Ones !