pamgarrison

it's almost time...

Teresa has been hard at work making exciting plans for this years Silver Bella. You can head on over to the Silver Bella Blog to see some of what's in store for participants. It's such a great holiday event. I am especially excited because this year, after returning home, I'll be able to stay in holiday mode. I get so in the mood at the event, but last year, after returning home, I had to pack the house and move. It kinda blew the whole holiday vibe as I'm sure you can imagine. But not this year! Teresa's got me started already with her sneak peeks and hints at special secrets. I only know one and it's got me super excited and singing  songs from the season. Seriously, my daughter just asked from a room away, "Mom, why are you singing Christmas songs?"

And a big welcome to  Sally Jean and Jenni B! I love both these artists, and not just for their style and talent, but also because they are super sweet. You are gonna love them too... I just don't know how participants are going to even decide which 5 classes to take. Oh my. A good problem, no? Well, you've got the weekend to mull it over...

another friend joins the blog world

{Trader Joes's Tulip as found on the kitchen counter}

I'm happy to report that Amy has thrown in the towel and started a blog... you know how much her creativity inspires me, and now you'll get to see more of the world through her eyes and be inspired as well. You are probably familiar with her jewelry often shown here on my blog, but her creative gifts hardly stop there. Visit her and you'll soon see what I mean.

Also wanted to let you know that Paris to the Moon, the magical little shop that I have blogged about here and here, now has a website. They are having another of their flea markets this weekend, and I was so looking forward to offering some of my many many art supplies (yep, the move confirmed it, I have gathered more than I need (and then some), but the back won't permit it. If you go, take some photos and show me what I missed.

good news & bad news

Remember when I posted here about my little adventure with Amy and Jenny Doh? It was one of the most creatively inspiring trips I've ever had. It was a dream indeed when we entered into Wendy Addison's magical world "Theatre of Dreams", and I long to go back. Well guess what? We can all visit quite regularly because Wendy has started a blog!!!  And just as exciting? Wendy is self publishing a  book of her own. There will only be 350 copies made. Of course, I've ordered mine. To find out more, go to her blog. I've seen some of these journal pages in person, and they are even more amazing than in the photos.

The bad news? I've gotten the results from my MRI. Looks like I'm going to have this back issue a bit longer. I have a big bulging disc, which we all assumed, but I didn't know that it had fractured and a "big piece" is embedded in my nerve. Damnit! Not what I wanted to hear. Going to a spine specialist later in the week. Finding it hard to feel like creating when I can't sit, stand, or lay comfortably. To top it all off though...Friday my husband called and said, "When I was getting out of my car, I think I did something to my back", and he's been walking funny every since. He had an MRI yesterday, and he has the same thing! Unbelievable. So he'll be going to the spine Dr. too.What are the chances? Can you imagine the two of us around here this weekend? Pretty funny if you can step back from it a bit. I am farther along then he, so I'm a bit more resolved to it. I guess I really should have had an MRI last year. They say 90% of people incur back injuries during their lifetime, and it can be from the simplest movement, So BE CAREFUL!!!  Ok, off my soapbox, and on to the last day of school BBQ (slowly) and physical therapy.

you guys are so sweet

Thank you for all your super kind words of empathy and advice. I really appreciate every single one. I am happy to report that I am doing much better. I was up last weekend actually, but overdid it and learned yet another lesson: slow down and let things heal, don't push it. But really, now, I am moving about well. I'm still learning that this is a life long issue, and working on getting back to normal, but it I'm so grateful to be so far from where I was a couple weeks ago. Yuk!

Happy to be doing a little crafting as well. These two flowers are bits of an embroidery project I suddenly had time to work on :). Love the rick rack one below. I bet some of you even remember the Martha issue where they made flowers out of rick rack trim (am I spelling that wrong?). It's been in my head for years, and gave me yet another reason to love rick rack.

I also did a little etsy shopping while I was down for the count.

I bought these above from Rebecca. And these below from Melissa.

And when I purchased this below from Donna...

she sent along a super sweet box that she made just for me. I love the velvet flowers, Swarovski crystals and oval labels inside and the "wallpaper is smart" paper piece (a girl after my own heart). But even better is the hand made box  she put them in. She used  the paper that I made for Somerset long ago and mixed it oh so cleverly with vintage wallpaper. Thank you Donna for the kind sentiment too.

She's even  selling some  cute vintage ledgers on her etsy site. If you are in my Art in Ashland class, these would be perfect!

Is it just me, or has etsy gone back to it's really cute indie-craft style that it was in the beginning? There were so many items I wanted to purchase.

Ok, enough rambling for now. Back soon. And really, thanks again for the companionship and camaraderie,  xoxop