blue friday...

"I need the shade of blue that rips your heart out.  You don't see that type of blue around here."

-Cath Crowley,

Graffiti Moon

the ritual of tea...

"When tea becomes ritual, it takes its place at the heart of our ability to see greatness in small things.  Where is beauty to be found?  In great things that, like everything else, are doomed to die, or in small things that aspire to nothing, yet know how to set a jewel of infinity in a single moment?"

-Muriel Barbery, The Elegance of the Hedgehog-

as you can see, lemon lift is the flavor of the month for me...a little warmth for the cold days we have been having.  and the sunny yellow cup - a gift from my sister years ago - reminds me of sunshine and family.  i miss having tea with my mom and my sister.  a ritual we used to have when we lived closer to one another.  my friend ellen and i send tea bags back and forth to one another in the mail sometimes...a small ritual in our far away friendship.  my kids sometimes reminisce about the tea rituals we would have when they were small.  we always used the big pretty teapot that my mom gave me and beautiful teacups from my collection.  why don't we do that anymore?  we really should.  no doubt, i will create something with these tea bags that i so carefully saved.  which brings me to my final thought.  for me, tea is so much more than just tea.  it's love.  it's friendship.  it's memories that i will always have.  it's inspiration.  what about you...do you have any tea rituals?

what if...

what if you just did it your own way?  

no rules, no right or wrong, just what you think is beautiful?

-sandra magsamen-

i have noticed that a lot of creatives choose a word to focus on for the new year.  there are so many words though...i can't decide on just one.  is that a flaw perhaps?  i'll admit, i've never been very decisive. 

instead of choosing a word, i've chosen a quote.  i wrote it out in my journal as a reminder to myself.  to try and create in this way.  to not get caught up in thinking that it has to be done a certain way.  to stretch and grow and experiment.  to not get hung up on thinking about how someone else might like it or what might sell.  to simply follow my heart and create what i think is beautiful.  in the past i've noticed that when i did manage to follow this path, what resulted was usually something wonderful, something that i absolutely loved.  and of course, that is very satisfying.  so, there you have it...my word quote for the year.

fold.

1.  to bend or rearrange.

2.  to make compact by bending over parts.

3.  to bring from an extended to a closed position.

i've been a little obsessed with these folded creations lately.  with the christmas decorations put away, the house was feeling a bit bare.  i rarely spend money on home decor.  i really like to repurpose what i have on hand.  while i was folding laundry in my cellar one day, this pile of books caught my eye.  i had some directions that i tore from a magazine years ago.  i had kept it all this time because i knew i would try it eventually.  so, i've been folding, folding, folding for about a week now and i finally have enough to fill my entire mantel and a small table in my foyer.  i think i'm done.  for now.

let your tears fall...

there is a sacredness in tears.  they are not a mark of weakness, but of power.  they are messengers of overwhelming grief and of unspeakable love.

-washington irving-

 there was a time in my life when i went a few years without really crying.  and then one day the cloud just became too heavy and it burst forth in a torrential downpour that lasted several months.  thankfully, i had a really strong shoulder to cry on.  

a good, long, deep cry can be so freeing.  a release from all of the heavy things which weigh upon our hearts.  and if you've been hanging on for a while, it can be life changing.  so go ahead...let them fall.

2014...

as usual, i'm always a bit behind...but i just wanted to say happy new year.  i hope your holidays were magical and that your new year has started off well.  

i'm always shocked at how quickly each year passes, but when i think back, i realize that it sometimes drags along rather slowly when i am in the thick of things (mainly things i don't want to do).  although we didn't travel this year, it was a nice few weeks of vacation in which i did zero work for my shop...a much needed break.  instead, there was a lot of cooking and baking and wrapping and after all of the mad holiday rush, i finally gave in and plunked myself down on the couch with my journal and scribbled and painted and pasted away happily for a few days.

we had several birthdays over the last month (3 of the kids and hubby) to add to our holiday magic and i am now officially the mother of 4 teenagers!  jokingly, i have been asking if there is some sort of prize for that.  i do think that one whole day without any drama might be a nice sort of reward.  or maybe a lock for my bathroom (why do they like mine so much better than theirs?)  or perhaps a cash prize to help offset the cost of all of the groceries they consume daily : )  but, as my daughter says, my prize is them.  and yes, that is true.  i am grateful for each one of them.  

so, anyways, happy new year and i hope this is the year that you make all of your dreams come true.