The Best Thing

I started this blog a couple of years ago as a tool to help my Etsy shop along.

Although I no longer have my Etsy shop, I've continued blogging for several reasons.

It gives me an outlet to express myself and share my creative endeavors.

Lets face it, if you can't share the things that you create, it just isn't quite as much fun.

My blog is my "Happy Place".

It's where I put the things that I'm passionate about.

I try to keep my blog posts positive and pretty and follow blogs that do the same.

There's lots of ugly and negativity out there and I need a place to go that's not.

A place where I can not only share the things that I love, but can also be inspired by others who share the things that they love as well.

But, the very best thing about my journey through blogging is that I've made new friends.

Kind and thoughtful friends who are there when my world is falling apart and I need a shoulder to cry on.

Friends who encourage me to keep on creating.

Friends who make me feel good about who I am and where I'm going.

These friends have become an important part of my life even though I've not yet met them in person.

I can't even express how grateful I am for all of their support and encouragement.

I only hope that I've done the same for them.

Thank you dear friends.

You mean the world to me.

Karen

Birds Are Singing

I've seen the Robins and you know what that means...

SPRING!

To celebrate the occasion, I made some new jewelry inspired by the Robins.

Don't you just love the egg bead?

I figured while I was making a mess, I might as well make some earrings too.

It's almost time for gardening, but until then I'll enjoy the earthy colors of these beads as I continue to practice my jewelry making skills.

"Use the talents you possess-

for the woods would be a very silent place if no birds sang except for the best."

Henry Van Dyke

Have a great start to your week everyone!

Karen

Getting Organized and Some Paper Beads

Did you ever notice that it's the little things that take the most time to organize?

Sorting through art and crafting supplies takes up half of my life, I swear.

But, as I've said before, it's all part of the process.

I've seen this idea many times before and just never got around to it.

It's something I can do late at night when I'm watching TV.

It makes me feel like I'm still accomplishing something that needs to be done when I'm too tired at the end of the day to do anything else.

This is another project I've been working on while relaxing in my big chair.

Paper Beads

You know how it is...

I need to stay busy to stay happy.

Be Happy!

Karen

Let The Light Shine Through

I have a small collection of old glass bottles.

Half of them were in my craft room and the other half were in our office space taking up an entire shelf that I needed for office type things.

While I was packing them up to move them to the crafting area, I noticed how the afternoon light was shining through the glass.

With the natural light shining through you can see the different colors of glass.

I chose five of the greenish colored ones to use as a group of bud vases.

The rest were put in a closet in my craft room for some future projects.

In order to make room for these in my craft room, I had to purge some things that I had no use for.

My girls will go through the things I've decided not to keep and take whatever they can use and the rest will be donated.

 It's an ongoing process and one that sparks my inspiration as I move things from one place to another. Just like these old bottles, they look beautiful on the table with the light shining through, but they looked like clutter on the dark shelf in the office. The simple act of looking at objects in a different light or different place presents more inspiration.

So, by organizing a shelf in my office, I discovered some beautiful bud vases, downsized the clutter, and have some sweet photos of light shining through glass that I can now use in another creative project.

Let the light shine through....

Karen

Mixed Media With Found Objects

Hi out there!

I've been working on a little mixed media project.

It's made up mostly of recycled materials

There's a frame from a broken clock, a recycled paper bag and repurposed lace.

It's a work in progress and I'm happy with it so far.

I'll post some pics of the finished product when it's complete.

It's so much more interesting to use repurposed materials and found objects when I'm creating.

Have you repurposed anything lately?

Karen



Candle Sticks

Maybe I should call them stick candles instead of candle sticks.

Either way, they are cute little candles that my daughter made for me.

We gathered the sticks from the back yard one day while we were walking Jack.

Thank you Jamie.

I love them!

My sweet girl.

See you soon.

Karen

The Monastery Bell

Wake up everybody.

The sun is shining!

Today I want to share with you something that my husband brought home for me last week.

It was supposed to be a surprise for my birthday, but I caught him sneaking in the house with it and I just couldn't wait.

I did a little research on it and found out that it is a European bell that hung in the hallway of a monastery.

It's made of brass and this one has a lot of patina.

It was used to wake the nuns or monks and also to signal certain prayer times.

It has a really great gongy sound.

It's so unusual and the history behind it is fascinating to me.

Now I just need to find the perfect place to hang it.

What's the most unusual thing you've found lately?

Karen