Winter in the Desert

I've been playing around with the concept of "looking through the viewfinder." This photo sort of looks like a modified pinhole camera effect. In the same open space just outside of the complex I live in are some palm trees that caught my eye earlier today. On my return trip from the dialysis clinic I stopped to photograph the palm trees that are being removed from the plot of land; their tops have been shorn off making them look rather sad. I was picking up some dried wood when I glanced up and saw this common desert scene. I don't know how many times I've driven past this corner without paying attention to what was begging to be photographed; in my defense though, if a lot of the brush hadn't been recently mowed down I would never have noticed the drama of the landscape. Tip: slow down to see what is right in front of you.

Some of my favorite New Year's Quotes:
An optimist stays up until midnight to see the new year in. A pessimist stays up to make sure the old year leaves. ~Bill Vaughan

Many people look forward to the new year for a new start on old habits. ~Author Unknown

A New Year's resolution is something that goes in one year and out the other. ~Author Unknown

Alzheimer's

Father time? No, just Big Ben.

I just found this site via Fibre & Stitch yahoo group. Thank you Betty!
http://www.amisimms.com/alartquin.html


The support I needed today!
http://www.amisimms.com/shyothabal.html

Merry Christmas

I will honor Christmas in my heart,
and try to keep it all the year.
Charles Dickens - The Christmas Carol

Love Actually

Seems that I'm not only one that this movie has touched!
It's even mentioned on Patricia Bolton's QA blog.
The Danny DeVito movie is "Deck the Halls." My friend
Neusa from Brazil wrote, "Isn't laughter the best gift?"
I had emailed her the link on the post below.

"Whenever I get gloomy with the state of the world, I think about the arrivals gate at Heathrow Airport. General opinion's starting to make out that we live in a world of hatred and greed, but I don't see that. It seems to me that love is everywhere. Often it's not particularly dignified or newsworthy, but it's always there - fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, boyfriends, girlfriends, old friends. When the planes hit the Twin Towers, as far as I know none of the phone calls from the people on board were messages of hate or revenge - they were all messages of love. If you look for it, I've got a sneaking suspicion love actually is all around."

Favorite Movie - Pay-it-Forward

There are lots of Pay-it-Forward posts happening on blogs right now. Thought I'd join the fun and offer a handmade something to be sent in Jan or Feb. A name will be drawn from a "hat" after New Years Day, so leave a comment on this post by Jan. 1, for a chance to receive something from me. The comment is: What is your favorite Christmas movie? Currently mine is "Love Actually." The movie wasn't presented as a Christmas one, but the story evolves around the Christmas season and I always feel lighter after seeing it. Last night I did catch a movie on HBO that was funny. Danny DeVito at his best; I don't remember the name of it.

NOTE: Some of you may not have a blogger/goggle account so if that's the case email me your comment to: gpierce@dslextreme.com and I'll add your name to the hat. Cut off date is midnight New Year's Eve.

Christmas Postcard

This is the original, maybe not the exact one, that was scanned for the fabric postcard below. The background is gesso and rust. Stacy has a collection of Christmas rubber stamps that worked well with a grid.

The tree is decorated, the gifts are ready for wrapping and I think that just about everything is done. At least I hope so! I'm out of steam so it'll be an even more low-key Christmas than usual. I was hungry for brisket but had no idea that finding one would take me three weeks! I nearly missed the few that Ralph's grocery store had and by the time I got there last week the decision was down to two choices. Sheesh! But what would a holiday be without the hunt for something? Today's hunt was for Pokemon characters that Jack has a sudden "need" for. He turns 6 on Jan. 3rd so what's a grandma to do but fill the need.

I'm taking a hiatus from creating anything until some time in January; the end of the year is proving to be overwhelming with health issues and appointments. I finally got a library card and checked out a huge stack of mysteries that I'm working my way through. The week I got the card the library closed for a month long remodeling and isn't due to open until Jan. 14th. Supposedly, they get about 400 requests a month for new cards. To say the least I moved to the desert in the midst of a huge population boom.

Decorate Your Christmas With Happiness!
http://gpsinformation.info/main/merryxmas.swf

Fabric Postcard

Gotta love lutradur and pellon! I ran pellon through the printer and happily the scanned original postcard design printed almost as good as the original. The red background is painted lutradur that was distressed and adhered to painted blue and gold lutradur. Embellished with decorative brads, 3-D paint, and an embossed metal piece the postcard is ready for mailing. The plan included sewing the layers together, but the sewing machine is buried under a heap of stuff so I hand stitched it instead.

Quote: Anyone can make the simple complicated. Creativity is making the complicated simple. Charles Mingus

Update on Comfort Dolls

Terrific receipt of the dolls at:
http://www.comfortdolls.blogspot.com/

Life in general has gone amuck, again! I wrote about some of the latest amucks on my other blog.
http://rocky-point.blogspot.com/

Comfort Dolls

My friend, Linda, emailed about a comfort doll project and suddenly I was off and running! Four of us on ExpressionStudio were able to make a few dolls to send to Pat Winter.
Check out the project at: http://tinyurl.com/3y2tx2
I found the pattern in Art Doll Quarterly, Summer 2004 by Bonnie Wedge. She created Kachina-like dolls that she rubber stamped and embellished. I rarely use rubber stamps even though I have dozens and dozens of them so I tried out a few ideas before stamping onto peach colored fabric.

Linda's scrumptious comfort dolls are at:
http://texturedturtle.blogspot.com/

Quote: People should think things out fresh and not just accept the conventional way of doing things. R. Buckminster Fuller