What Happened to Summer 2009?

Wow, what a fast summer this has been.

It seems I fell asleep, blinked & the summer vanished. The grandchildren are back in school and the more ritualistic school schedules have started so quickly it's hard to imagine that they ever stopped.

We have had a fun summer. Lots of family get togethers. Chances to learn new arts & crafts. Trip to the Children's Museum. Visit from daughter who lives out of state. While I never learned to make friendship bracelets in the 60's, I have now learned to make them for the grandchildren. Three of them know how to make their own so we are having lots of fun with all colors of embroidery floss & small charms.

I have started speaking to Quilt Guilds and small groups about the fun activity of fabric postcard swapping. Over the past 2 1/2 years I have now made, mailed & received more than 400 of these small fun pieces of art. I tell those who are at the meetings that I am the largest trunk show that they will ever see where they are allowed to touch & examine the small quilts up close and personal. I figure if they make it through the postal system, there isn't much to do to endanger them by a few loving hands. Several new members have joined ArtWeMail, so we will expand out talents & share even more in 2010.

Hope your summer was eventful and full of wonderful memories.

Learning to Weave Dreams

The Legend of the Dream catcher

There are as many different versions of the origin of the dream catcher as there are dream catchers. My favorite is one about an old woman who would sit quietly watching a spider spin. She loved watching the spider at work and the skill of its many legs. One day, her grandson came to visit, being afraid that the would bring harm to his grandmother, he went over to kill the spider. Grandmother stopped him. He asked her to explain why she would protect a spider but she didn’t answer, she only smiled.

After her grandson left, the spider thanked her for saving his life. "For many days you have watched me spin and weave my web," it told her. "You have admired my work. In gratitude for saving my life, I will give to you a very special gift." It then smiled and continued to weave his web.

When night fell and the moon cast its magical light on the spider's work, the web glisten with a silver glow in the window as it swayed gently with the breeze. The spider went to the old woman once again and said, "This is my gift to you. See it and learn it, for each web will snare bad dreams, allowing only good dreams to fit through the small hole in the center. The web will hold the bad dreams until morning until the sunlight burns them away. Keep the web with you forever so that only the good dreams will be remembered." From then until now, the legend of the secret of the dream catcher has been passed on to the next generation as has the dream catcher.

Dreams are often clues to what we are experiencing in life or thinking about in deeper parts of our soul – legends are often lessons or inspiration to bring knowledge, wisdom and peace. The combination of what this little legend represents is special to me as I pass each dream catcher on to a new home. My dream catcher is made with prayers for the future of the recipient. May all of your good dreams be blessed by God & flow through your future while every bad dream is evaporated with each new sunrise.

New Obsessions

What a wonderful summer full of memories & lots of time with family, especially those grandkids!

They bring out the little girl inside of me who never really wanted to go away or grow up. It's funny how the years keep us too busy to notice what all we forget to do.

Today I have a new interest & obsession - designing & creating simple art dolls. That is the side of the 'little girl' who lives here.

Perhaps in the weeks ahead I will do some step by step instructions for those who might want to rediscover their own inner child & play with dolls again!

Happy August....

Finding Time

You just never know when another 'obsession' might occure for any of us who love to color, cut out & paste. It's not about age, it's not about inspiration, it's not about having enough time... it's about being able to hear whispers that not everyone can hear... it can happen anytime day or night.

You know the whisper? The one the colored pencil, or crayon, or marker makes when you are in the middle of doing something else and ignoring them... 'hey, see me? I'll bet you and I can have a really fun time if you will stop what you are doing and find a piece of paper." No matter how hard I try to ignore the temptation I am overcome and suddenly I have cards & cards & more cards of new girlfriends!

I love drawing eyes. Our grandchildren have BIG eyes - BIG BLUE eyes... I can't draw every person with blue eyes because my sweet, dear friends have brown, hazel, and colors in between sparkling in their eyes. So, girlfriends are showing up on card stock for greeting cards and fabric for postcards! Drawing body details escapes my talents - so I draw what I can and enjoy the process... eventually I do put away the colored pencils, crayons, markers & chalk...in a box that can sit near my evening escape to my recliner... eventually I return to the things in life that must be 'attended to'.

It's the little whispers in life that interrupt me to keep the child alive inside of me for a lifetime... coloring outside the lines is my favorite part of life - living outside the box makes me smile & forces me to find new direction & learn new things - little whispers push me beyond my comfort zone

I'm about to move beyond my comfort zone of nearly 30 years and return to a very different workforce than I've ever been involved in - I will learn new things, meet new people, accept intreguing assignments & form new friendships. Days will be more demanding & less flexible... my prayer is that I never stop listening to whispers & finding time to add color to my life... and for my grandchildren & time to embrace new friendships!

Planting Seeds

These weeks keep running by so fast - this is not a complaint, it is because they are filled with the speed of little ones running under my feet like in the days of raising my own - this time, it's grandchildren. ..
Yesterday I took them outdoors and we planted some seeds (from packets). I was overwhelmed when I saw the analogy ... here we were planting tiny seeds to watch them grow - here I stood watching the tiny hands of the children push seeds into the fresh dirt... reality of how quickly the seeds will blossom reminds me of how quickly the tiny, seeds in front of me, dressed as children, will grow and move on ... take time to embrace the 'seeds' in your life today - water them with tears if necessary - it's all a part of the passing of seasons... each one bringing fresh blossoms & radiant new beginnings! New life in any form is a reminder of how small we are and how little we actually control.... Carpe Diem!

HAVE FUN - ENJOY THE JOURNEY!