Needlepointy

I don’t quite know what it is…

…but combine the general cuteness of all things Cath Kidston--

…the fabric, the yarn…

…the florals…

…all the household goodies…

…and I’m a complete goner!

Then, you combine all that with needlework--

…and I’m in absolute heaven!

Couldn’t help but snatch up this fabulous needlework book and get to work!

Tied up in all the rest of my obsessions above noted, I love England.  All of it.  And I really love the design of the Union Jack.  I’m so very grateful that I’m an American girl through and through—but a couple hundred years ago, this was the flag of my people (without the adorable flowers, of course!).  And it has always had a place in my heart, as well…

…so I chose this beauty for my first project.

And then, I found I just couldn’t stop!

Happily, included in the book was a smaller version.  In a brighter color scheme.  What’s a girl to do?!

Just the feel of the lovely wool yarn ask I worked with my hands was a joy—now to just figure out what these sweet canvas pieces will be…..

…I’m quite sure they’ll let me know!

See you soon!

Julie

{All images not watermarked were found on Pinterest}

LiveJournal Tags: needlepoint,Cath Kidston,floral,Union Jack

Commonplace

  Dear Friends!  How good it feels to be back here once again…travels are through for now.  Nest is empty.  My husband and I are adjusting…life is indeed very, very good.

It felt so blissfully lovely to get back up into my crafty room and begin again.  Time is my own now, and my time wanted to get inky and painty once more.

I wanted to start fresh.  So many things I am in the middle of working on right now, but one of my favorite things is journaling.  It’s my happy place, you  can say.  So, that is what I’ll share first…

My new journal is a “commonplace” journal.  A little bit different than the ones I’ve done before.  This one will be filled with anything I love.  Anything at all.

My first pages are a bit familiar—but soon there will be pages filled with old family recipes, family history, things I’m discovering, me, my family…anything that fills my days.

People have been keeping commonplace books for hundreds of years.  I love them.  We first see a record of them in the 1400s.  The idea has made a comeback recently, but they have been kept for so very long, that just the thought of them makes me happy!  You know how I feel about history…..

So here is mine.  One of many to come, I would think.  There will be thoughts and images, a bit of paint and drawings inserted here and there--it will be nothing fancy—but it will only be filled with things that I love.  Things that have great meaning to me…

I hope you’ll give it a try.  You never know what you’ll discover about yourself as you go along filling deliciously handmade-paper pages with things you find in your everyday, far-from-commonplace life…..

Julie

LiveJournal Tags: commonplace book,art journal,thoughts,everyday,life,love,memories

{antique oval image courtesy of Hope Wallace Karney}

Merry-Go Round

Life is like a merry-go round sometimes, isn’t it?

We’re up, we’re down…we go around and around in circles.  It’s fun!

On my merry-go round right now, I’m about to send my youngest child off to college—ups AND downs for me!

So, for the next few weeks, I’ll be focusing on her.  Focusing on my husband.  Focusing on figuring out life as empty-nesters…

I’ll be back at the beginning of October.  Full of new things.  I’ve been learning and re-learning all kinds of things that I’m working on that I can’t wait to share with you as we keep going round and round on this wonderful ride together…

See you soon!

Julie

{lovely carousel images courtesy of Pinterest}

LiveJournal Tags: merry-go-round,life,empty nest,carousel

Found

I’d loved her name ever since I was a young girl…

 

Sarah Lavinia

…so romantic.  So lovely.  So very, very long ago….

Just a name on my pedigree chart.  My fourth great-grandmother.  Never an image to go with that beautiful name.

Until now.

   While going through Ancestry.com for more information on the names I loved, a face emerged—a beautifully hand-painted face. 

My heart stopped…

Could it really be her?

“Portrait painted for locket”, were the words written under her portrait.  The image was small, but perfect—and I was thrilled beyond belief!

And just to make sure that I never, ever lost Sarah Lavinia again--

I put her in a locket of my very own. 

Found.  Found and loved….

Julie

LiveJournal Tags: art journal,Sarah Lavinia Gant Perkins,Ancestry.com,locket,portrait,family history,found

Life is Delicious

 

I am definitely loving these long, summer days…

 

 

Time to find joy in oh, so many things…food, family, childhood memories, friends, fun…

 

 

…and nature in all of it’s busy, buzzy splendor~

 

 

 

We never intended to be beekeepers, but beekeepers we apparently have become!

 

 

Wishing you many happy summer days filled with unexpected joys!

Julie

LiveJournal Tags: art journal,summer,nature,bees,home,memories,delicious,cake

Happiness

Where do the days go?  Hard to believe it’s the first day of August already—what a full summer it’s been!

I so enjoyed getting back up into my craft room this week to relax & make some messes…so good to feel inky, gluey & painty again!

With all the busy-ness of the summer, it’s good to sit back, relax & take stock of all the good I have been given--all the wonderfulness of life. 

And I am happy…

And oh, so very grateful for it all.

Wishing you many quiet, joy-filled moments…

Julie

LiveJournal Tags: art journal,happiness,contentment,joy,quiet,peace,reflexion

The Red, White & Blue

 

I’ve always loved my country.  Always been grateful for the freedoms that we have.

I felt a deepening of that love and gratitude after a trip to Washington D.C. just a couple of months ago.  A feeling that I don’t want to lose.  Ever……

 

How grateful we should be.  Each and every single day—for the freedom we have to live as we choose….and for those who have fought and died to allow us that liberty.

We are so very, very blessed…….

Wishing you all a Happy Fourth!

Julie

LiveJournal Tags: art journal,America,country,liberty,freedom,gratitude,love,Independence Day,Fourth of July

Revealed

I love what journaling reveals to me about….me.

Sometimes you just never know, when you first put pen to page, what’s going to emerge.  It’s really very interesting--

Sometimes a thought or two are already in your head—sometimes a thought or two originally penned by a much wiser someone else, but out it comes—committed to paper…and you learn something from it.

I also find it interesting what I choose to put with those words.  The images reveal quite a bit about us, as well, I think…how we are, how we were—how we would like to be…

 

And sometimes what gets revealed is the little girl inside of us, just itching to come out and play with paint and paper…just to see what she looks like.

Wishing you lots of wonderful revelations today…

Julie

LiveJournal Tags: art journal,reveal,thoughts,paint,faces,be yourself