Autumn gathering

A truly magical thing happens in the back yard each autumn.

All of the blackbird tribe gather together, making their blackbird sounds in unison and discussing their plans for the coming winter season.

It truly is a sight to behold. So many of them. Hundreds! It also feels like such an honour - a blessing - that they choose our yard to spend this sacred time in. I like to think that they feel safe here (:

I hid under the big tree beside the garage and was close enough that, when startled, they all flew my way unknowingly. I could hear their wingbeat~sound over my head as they swooped a meter or so near my hiding place. It was amazing. I love blackbirds.

After they had all flown away and dissapeared, Jason saw that there was a treasure on the grass, not 10 feet from where I was hiding that whole time..

Thank you for the gift, bird spirits.

^__^

٩(●̮̮̃•̃)۶ Day of the Dead ornaments are here!

They're here! And just in time for your autumn celebrations!! (:

Plush 'Dia De Los Muertos' sugar skulls ~ Made from my original artwork & sewn with love..

Sold in Sets of Three, They are now available in my shop (:

٩(●̮̮̃•̃)۶
vvv

{{ this moment }}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.



inspired my Soule Mama (:

GIVEAWAY!!!

Congratulations to Bodhileaf for winning my autumn giveaway!! Bodhileaf ~ Please contact me with your address so I can mail the cards off to you (:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



In this magical season which is autumn, I have been inspired to host a
G I V E A W A Y !!!!!

I have decided that I like the number 333. It seems like a pretty nice, well-rounded number ~ maybe even a magical, good-luck sort of number, and so I have decided that when I reach that many blog posts (I'm at 328 right now) I will offer a pair of lovely handmade embroidered greeting cards featuring my artwork as a giveaway gift (: (: Two forest~keeper gnomes, perfect for celebrating this jumping in leaves ~ hot cider ~ scarf and mittens season (:

If you would care to win such a treasure, please do these 2 simple things:


~ Leave a comment on this post (make sure you can be contacted through your blog account in some way!)


~ Become a follower of my blog OR place me in your sidebar blogroll (: {{If you don't have a blog or an account, that's ok. Just leave a message but make sure I can email you if you win!}}

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I will draw the winner randomly when I reach 333 posts, which I estimate to be sometime next week (:
Good luck!

Day of the Dead 'littles'

Aren't they pretty?! (:

I made these quick sugar skull drawings a bit ago but only recently became inspired to do something even more exciting with them (: I can't say right now, but I will mention that fabric is involved. And stuffing. And pure awesomeness. Stay tuned!

More of my favourite thing (:

I took these photos in and around the town where I live (: I love seeing everyone's beautiful clotheslines hanging in the sun and wind; This is one of the best parts of summer for me. My heart skips a beat with happiness each and every time I spot a new clothesline out on some country road, tucked behind it's nearby house, tree or fence. It's a seriously dedicated clothesliner who'll hang their laundry out in the cold of autumn and winter ~ Most of these lines here will be vacant once the temperature drops. Not my Mom's line though! She's dedicated and hardy; Her sheets will air dry even as the snows fall (:

{{ this moment }}

"{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember."

inspired by soulemama (:

Holiday art show!

Yay! Jason and I are participating in this fun arts 'n crafts show this holiday season (: If you live nearby, you should definitely come out and say hello (and buy our beautiful wares, of course!) Now, in order to prepare I have a stack of gnome bodies and hats TEN feet tall! I'd better go and sew them up! (:

It'll be at the Lions Community Centre at 157 Elgin Street East, Cobourg, Ontario.

For more info on the show itself, check out the website here! (: (: (:

more etsy treasuries (-:

treasury one    treasury two    treasury three    treasury four    treasury five

'A Disapproving Look' ~ Jason's newest painting

This is Jason's latest painting.

Yes, it is of me.

I rather like it, and not because I am vain. The colours and rich brushstrokes are delicious, and the vintage quality, due to my odd hairdo and country girl dress, make for quite an interesting story. I don't normally look so intense either, so that aspect rather amuses me (-: Jason is an amazing artist and I love watching his beautiful paintings as they unfold. Care to see his etsy shop? (-:

{{ this moment }}

^__^

what makes me happy?

From 'The Secret of Roan Inish'. Yes, my favourite movie is a children's movie ;-)

Whenever I am feeling a bit down, this movie cheers me right up. I know this may sound silly, but the scene where the kids sneak to the island and clean the cottages is SO satisfying, and makes my heart happy.

I just thought I'd mention that (-:

By the way, someone else has been kind enough to feature my Day of the Dead pillow in a treasury! Yay! I suppose this is a small hint that Halloween is on its way! With that in mind, I am off to create more Day of the Dead goodies (: (: fun fun fun (:

To see this guy in my shop, click here (-:

^__^

yet more treasuries

So, it looks like it's been a super awesome week as far as etsy treasuries go! My work has just been featured in THREE at the same time! That's so awesome.

Care to see?

Treasury 1
Treasury 2
Treasury 3

To celebrate, I'll enjoy two brownies and a cup of 'cream earl grey' tea! Oh, wait.. I had that before I knew about the treasuries! I guess I have a special gift of knowing what will happen in the future then ;-D

First day of school, First painting & Another etsy treasury!

Lots of goings~on around here (-: Jude has just nodded off and is enjoying his glorious late morning nap and Jason is out in the studio working on a painting (-: Today is the first day of school and Isabella was SO SO nervous; Mostly she was worried about not making friends. I hope her day is going well ~ She has been there for two hours now (-: On the way to drop her off this morning I stopped into a little corner store and let her pick out a special treat for the first day of school, so she has that to look forward at the very least! She picked 'Smarties', which you can only get in Canada. They do have a candy of the same name in the US but it's totally different. They are my favourite (-:
At any rate, we all fared quite nicely with the earlier wake up time. I had my shower, coffee, tea and oatmeal got made and eaten, morning talk and joking happened. All good. I took a picture of Isabella as I have done every year at the beginning of the school year. We picked her outfit last night (a very important choice for the first day of school!) ~ blue skinny jeans, brown long-sleeved shirt with a printed tree and embroidered leaves, green "Little Miss Fun" sweatshirt, and she wore her moonstone necklace to give her strength for the day ahead. (-: I do love that little girl. I can't believe she will be 10 years old in just three months.

So, here she is, my darling girl~child on this morning:

And here's how she spent her last day of freedom yesterday:

We also went out for a celebratory yummy drink and a treat at the cafe in town, strolled along the nature pathway through the marsh and did lots and lots of laundry (-:

THIS is Jude's very first painting! I would have taken pictures of him actually making it, but I was ensuring that he didn't paint everything else in sight as well. A lovely keepsake. I have Isabella's first painting too. I look forward to framing them and hanging them up to enjoy forever (-:

And, one of my dolls has been featured in a treasury! See here (-:

Have a beautiful Tuesday (-: xo

Jason's newest painting

This original oil painting is for sale at onetindrum.etsy.com

This is the most recent painting Jason has created! I love it. It's a portrait of Erin who also happens to be one of my most cherished friends; a mother, wife and artist too. He's actually working on one of me at the moment and it's almost done..Just a few minor details to tweak. Never before has Jason painted me, so it's a bit odd to see my likeness emerging in oils. I'm excited to see it done, and then to see what he has in store next. Likely, it will be a portrait of our sweet baby Jude (-:

etsy treasury

That's what our pretty origami cranes have been featured in (-: Click here to see!

The day is remarkably cold. That winter coat and big squishy hat kind of cold! Brrrrr. Four years in California has transformed me into a big wimp apparently! More likely, I find myself in a bit of an unfortunate situation because I only have warm weather clothes! I shall have to fix that, but until that time I will dress in a million layers (-: I found a bunch of really great second~hand clothes for both Isabella and Jude, all ready for the coming winter (-: And the coming school year, which starts in just two days. Isabella is REALLY excited, which is great! There may be some emotional moments on that first morning though, when the nervousness sets in. Overall, for a kid who has been both homeschooled and then uprooted from her native land, put into three different California schools, uprooted again and taken back to Canada four years later, she is remarkably well-adjusted. She cannot wait to start her new school year and make new friends (-:

^__^

ORIGAMI !!!!!!!! ORIGAMI !!!!!!!!

These lovely paper lanterns beautified our living room wall for years!

Jason and I love origami (-: We have been making it ~ and decorate our home with it ~ for many, many years. We have decorated our walls, ceilings, doorframes, windowframes and Christmas tree with waterbombs (small paper lanterns fitted onto the ends of Christmas lights). We make origami crane mobiles and hang them from the ceiling..We tuck individual cranes into garden pots, trees, windowframe corners, decorative bowls on a table or shelf...We give them to friends and waitresses and children. We create different origami designs for use on gift packaging, on greeting cards and holiday items (such as these Valentines made for Isabella's classmates last February!)

So yes, we love Origami. And we thought it was about time to list some in my shop so that others can enjoy it too! We have three designs right now ~

Origami cranes! They come in a package of 12 and are a random mix of different colours (-:

Origami Paper Lanterns! These come in a package of 25 and are constructed of patterned origami paper ~ Each one has a different pattern. They are so pretty when put onto the ends of Christmas lights and strung about the room. Depending on which colour(s) the lights are changes the effect. Very awesome (-:

Origami Flapping Mouths! These are fun because you can make them 'talk'. They open and close, which makes them very fun for both adults and children alike!

To see these lovely origami creations in my shop, click here!

^__^