An artfully wonderful time of year

Today marks the day that two excellent freebies become available to blogland.

The awesome Tim Holtz began the first of his annual 12 Tags of Christmas and admits he may have gotten "a bit carried away" on his snowy, blue, crackly Winter Wishes tag. Tim offers an easy-to-follow, detailed tutorial with close-up photos each day and giveaways too! If you haven't met Tim Holtz yet, his blog is a must visit. He is incredibly talented and very generous.

Lisa Vollrath's Christmas countdown printables kicked off today too, with the first of 25 collage image sheets. Lisa requires that you link to her website before downloading her fantastic vintage images, which is a tiny price to 'pay' for those of us addicted to graphics.

I hope you enjoy these two early Christmas gifts as much as I do~

An amazing artist

Yesterday I went to a fiber fair held at a place I've been meaning to go for a long time now: the Textile Center in Minneapolis. There were spinning and weaving demonstrations, sales of materials and finished products, and exhibits of wonderful art as well as clothing. I was absolutely enthralled by the work of Julie Crabtree-Pfannes, shown here---->

This 20"x20" piece is titled Autumn Glory and, like much of her work, is a handmade paper and hand-dyed fiber collage of distressed fabrics, paint, and free-motion sewing.

She is inspired by the Northwoods of Minnesota and her art was amazing and so textural. I only wish I could afford one of these works!

Vintage sewing goodies

A bit late, but here's a photo of someone's old sewing kit that I picked up at a yard sale this summer. I hope to reuse some of the contents in art pieces. I especially love the antique fabric tape measure, and can you dig that far-out 70's fruitcake tin???

Red piece

I've been working on this collage forever. It started out as corrugated cardboard that I sanded, painted, and sanded some more. Then I started applying different recycled materials--a painted dryer sheet, a few labels soaked off of various jars, some trim from a box of Valentine chocolates, and more vintagey-looking scraps. The lady came from a workshop I took from Mike Putman @ JackandCatCurio. I gave her some wings made from maple tree seedpods, aka "helicopters".

I can't think of a name for this piece; if you have any suggestions, please leave me a comment!

Oh, and to my wonderful, sweet, Star Wars-obsessed son:

Happy 7th Birthday, Alexander!

Early winter

The past couple of weeks, I've been living one of my worst nightmares: winter has come early here in Minnesota.

Early snow and way-below average temps.

Why do I hate it so much?

A lot has to do with fear. I remember sliding down a snowy hill, driving the minivan, out of control.

I remember getting the van stuck in ice in a parking lot and 4 men had to help me push it out.

I remember not being able to drive the van up our driveway because it was so slick with ice.

I remember slipping and sliding and falling on the ice many times.

I remember earlier this year Cupid straining /spraining something in one of her rear legs while tromping thru a bank of snow. There was no one to call for a ride; somehow she managed to limp all the way home. Followed by an expensive trip to the emergency vet.

I remember - on less painful walks with Cupid - my face feeling frozen, icy tears being whipped from my eyes, my fingers numb with cold despite wearing gloves.

To cope, I've learned that it's vital that I get out of the house at least daily during winter. Having such unpleasant memories makes that difficult, but it's high on my list of survival tools. Another tool that I started using last year is to list things for which I'm grateful, also daily. At least two a day. In my fowlest moods, that tough to do; other days they come easily.

Today I'm feeling especially grateful for my group. They're a wonderful bunch, some of whom have become friends in addition to being support people. I have a feeling I'll be relying on them heavily this winter.

Another thing I am grateful for is the beauty of nature. I took this photo of a baby maple tree last fall. It was growing up thru the center of a shrub (dogwood?) and couldn't have been more than 15" tall. Just adorable.

Ahh, I got to swim today. First time in several months. During the summer, with all the kids out of school, I give up on swimming laps. Then there was the annual pool maintenance, which closed it for another month.

I love to swim. I feel very comfortable in the water. Swimming is almost meditative for me. To swim in the tropical atmosphere of our gym's pool, with all the sunlight coming in those walls of windows, is wonderfully calming. I have to admit that it's somewhat surreal to be looking out those windows when it's the middle of winter and the snow is flying outside.

Tonight, though, my long-dormant swimming muscles are starting to complain. Will the remedy be ibuprofen or smelly Icy Hot?

Autumn musings

Yep, winter is coming. I wish I could enjoy autumn without dreading the season that follows. Cupid and I took a short walk today in the woods where we used to take long walks. Her neurological disease doesn't allow her to take the extended walks of the past. I could tell that she remembered the place. She took a nice poo, ate a little grass, and enjoyed the smells. I thought of my dad, who passed away in 1993; he understood how a dog appreciates the opportunity to defecate away from home.
The leaves are starting to change color and drop, after some extended summer weather. It's been about 10 degrees above normal for the past couple-three weeks (another Jim McWilliam-ism). Poor school kids...class rooms don't have air conditioning around here. The colors of the leaves is one of the things that helps me keep my sanity around this time of year. Even a transplanted Arizonan like myself can appreciate the beauty. Getting out into nature is so necessary for me - at any time of year - and I have Cupid to thank for promoting that. I doubt if many people can understand why I feel about this dog the way that I do. I'm sure most of my friends and family think I'm off in the head the way I have included this animal in my life. She's gone on trips with me- by car and by plane- and she goes on nearly every errand with me unless it's too warm. She has her own couch which is placed in front of the living room picture window so she can watch the action in her front yard and on Griggs St. Cupid has been my silent friend for almost 13 years now. She is a comfort to me when I am sad, a calming presence when life gets difficult. She has been my protector and my creative inspiration. I am amazed by her common sense and the grace with which she has handled her advancing years. Her beauty feeds my soul and her quirky sense of humor has added much joy to my life.