It's good to be me!

Hope it's not wrong to say that, but I had such a good morning! I opened two surprise packages! Not one, but two! Some people are just so good at spoiling me . . . .

Shelly Massey of A Wee Bit Warped sent me the most delicious fabulous swanky box of goodies! A hand painted You are Loved sign, a gorgeous print (which you can find here), some spectacular cards (beautifully printed and I hope coming to her Etsy soon), and her Oodles of Doodles booklet! I am just plain giddy! (read more about Shelly below)





(look at Shelly's yummy "Hello, my name is" business card too . . . so clever)



Shelly is one of my oldest new art friends, with me from almost the beginning of my new journey into art three years ago. Not only has she been extremely supportive and encouraging to me and so many others, she has blossomed in the most exciting ways in her own work. In fact, her class with Paper Cowgirl just recently sold out and she is teaching workshops and classes all over the country. She is in high demand and it is no surprise. If you are lucky enough to get into one of her classes, you'll be envied by me and so many others. She is mucho talented and one of the kindest gals I've ever met. Be sure to check your schedule and check her blog here.

Tracey of Glitterbug Studios sent me some real live magic! Tracey has long been one of my favorite artists. She moves between hand cut collage and digital work with the greatest of ease and both are truly magnificent to see. Tracey stays busy with the design teams she creates for and I am truly honored and lucky to have her on my own small Tumble Fish team. Not only does she work in both digital and hand cut mediums but she works in some pretty spectacular formats as well.

This was no ordinary book she sent me . . .



I could tell right away . . . the glitter gave me an idea that this was going to be special!



Opened the cover and inside I found a very magical theater! Look at the special Tumble Fish details she added. Woweeeeee!



Tracey has sent me so many incredible, very special pieces of art over the last couple of years. I've tried and tried to change the fact that she has yet to open an Etsy! You can give her a bad time about that when you visit her blog here.


Well, Tuesday is also "eat dinner out" night at my house and I am getting a hair cut today. So all in all, it was a good day to get out of bed, don't ya think?

Here are a couple of my proverbial irons in the fire. Buckets of pictures and papers to scan and restore . . .



I actually bought some panels to try a little mixed media work soon. Yep, still in the bag a week later taking up room on my work space. But, I am NOT putting them away . . .




Have a couple of new things in my Etsy . . .

Postcards



French Fleurs collage sheets



Have a great first week of March, everybody!

Cool ideas, swanky stuff . . .

Swanky Stuff

Brenda of My Divine Time, one of the sweetest friends I have, sent me a Sandy Mastroni doll recently. She's been sitting on my desk, patiently waiting for me to announce her arrival. I told Brenda, I now have a group since it is my third of Sandy's dolls. I aim to have a shelf-full one of these days. Thank you, Brenda, for spoiling me with such a fantastic surprise! (the doll picture is linked to Sandy's Etsy, but her very fun blog can be found here. And her brand new Etsy full of glorious rich paintings can be found here.)



From one of my favorite Etsy artists, Aquamarine Art, here's a yummy fun giveaway! Click on the picture to be taken to the drawing. I have my eye on that dreamy little itty bitty painting. (not shown here) Be sure to wish her a Happy Birthday too!



Some of you know, my idol, my role model, my "wanna-be-her-someday" is Anahata Katkin because of how she made her business dream a reality. I have given many of her items away as gifts and am always on the look out for what's new and cool. I just love her magnets and right now, you can get this cool fridge art for $1.00 + shipping! Can't beat that! There are lots of magnets on sale so be sure to go check them out. (the picture below is linked to Papaya Art and the magnet listing.)




Cool Ideas


From one of my new favorite "cool ideas" blogs, Frugal Life Project:

DIY: Enlarging Small Mementos to Make Large Works of Art!


Also love these posts at DIY!

Faux Metallic Letters



Printing on Fabric

Updated! Three more!

Celebrating my 100th -102nd collage sheets in Etsy!
Here they are . . .

Couture Deux



Couture



Glamour Girls

I'm not shy . . .

about posting what's new in my Etsy. I finished several new sheets and have many more on the way. Here are the latest listings . . .

Colorful Cabinet Cards



Bodacious Borders



Bodacious Borders Deux



Bodacious Letters



I'm on call for jury duty this week. I have to call every evening to find out if I have to go in the next day. So far so good but it limits what projects I want to start and may have to leave undone awhile.

Hope you all have a great week!

Sweets for the Sweet Winners!

I'll keep it short and sweet tonight. It's been a marathon week and the one and only art project I got done, I can't show you . . . yet. So, I'll get right to the winners of the Sweets for the Sweet Drawing. I numbered the comments in order from 1 to 69, giving two consecutive numbers to each person that left a poem and one number to those that didn't. I used the random number generator found here to get the draws, but I did not save the pix this time. (too much in a hurry)

Prize One winner . . . . #31 Andrea of Art Legacy
You won the Cupid Combo collage sheet set!

Prize Two winner . . . #19 Junkgarden
You won the flower pin from Stephanie Boman!

Prize Three winner . . . #26 Paper Pumpkin
You won the Just Be petite print!

Prize Four winner . . . #11 Yvonne of Artic Blonde Creations
You won the Valentine collage sheets!

So, winners, email whatever I need to mail your prizes to you. Collage sheets need an email address and the other two prizes need snail mail addresses.

Thank you everybody for your fun and wonderful participation in the drawing. I loved the poems! You kept me entertained all week.

Coming Soon! I have tons and tons and tons of new antique pix and papers I plan to focus on starting tomorrow, so look for new art and new collage sheets next week! I cleared my plate, finally, and got the big projects done that have been weighing me down. So keep your eyes peeled!

Sweets for the Sweet Drawing

4 Sweet Little Prizes! All you have to do is comment this post to be entered into a random drawing for one of the following four prizes! If you'd like your name to be entered twice in the drawing, leave me a poem in your comment that starts with "Roses are Red. . ."

The first prize is . . . A set of my newest collage sheets from my Etsy

Be Mine Cupid Combo image set



The next prize is . . . A romantically fun rose pin from my friend, artist and published author, Stephanie Boman! The picture is linked to her Etsy and you can find her blog here. Stephanie had sent me a pin a few months ago just cuz she's as sweet as can be and I love it! These are lovely vintage style adornments, very yummy! Some can be worn in your hair, some on your hat, some on your clothes - THE perfect accessory! Be sure to check out Stephanie's blog too where she hosts many of her own free giveaways, shares free ephemera to use in your own work, and shows some of her own fab art projects like this favorite of mine.


(Above picture from Stephanie Boman. All rights reserved.)

If you'd like to add Stephanie's blog button to your own blog, here it is . . . find the link code on the sidebar of her blog.





The third prize is . . . This Limited Edition Just Be Petite Print (with mat). This is a first in a planned series of petite size pieces, measuring about 3 x 5 inches.


copyright by Marsha Jorgensen 1/31/2011. All rights reserved.
Digital ATC. Image credits, everything is from my images (most at tumblefishstuido.etsy.com) except for the face which comes from a former flickr member, VeryGoodWithComputers.

And the last prize is . . . 3 of my older Valentine collage image sheets from my Etsy!



Drawing closes Thursday at midnight. Winners will be announced Friday, February 11!

Have a great week my sweetest blog people ever!

That's all and no more . . .

I've been busy thinking all day. And now it's time to . . .

Just be


copyright by Marsha Jorgensen 1/31/2011. All rights reserved.
Digital ATC. Image credits, everything is from my images (most at tumblefishstuido.etsy.com) except for the face which comes from a former flickr member, VeryGoodWithComputers.

The little digital ATC above will be popping up here again soon. I feel another prize drawing coming on soon! Sweets for the Sweet Contest coming later this week!

That'll teach me . . .
Guess I should pay more attention to my email. It has been sadly neglected. Cleaned out over 1300 messages between my two addresses this weekend and ran across a few that I wish I had seen earlier! I don't know how I miss such great messages! Found out from Seth Apter of The Altered Page that stemming from his project The Pulse, a survey of 150 online artists, my blog was listed as a favorite blog to visit! Who knew? I often think I scare people away! You can see the link here. And while you're at Seth's blog, check out this link too! Well, just check everything out at Seth's! I got lost in there for over an hour tonight.


Today's self observations . . .

• I have been craving turkey. I go and get slices out of the fridge like some might take cookies from the cookie jar. Hope this goes away soon.
  
• I get tired of wearing pants about 9:00 every night. I have to go put on the stretchy jammies. (could be from all the turkey I ate during the day) The really sad thing is, I don't always shower and get my pants on until 2 or 3 in the afternoon. Thank goodness I don't have a real job.
  
• I am a fixer. I want to fix everything, always . . . and am so disappointed when I realize I can't fix most things.
• I have fallen out of grace with two people already this week. Could be a long week. You live, you learn.
  

Another Miscellaneous Post

Nothing much new to say, just trying to stay up on things. Lots of irons in the fire . . . acquiring lots of new images to use in my own work and new collage sheets. Bought nearly $1000 worth of antique papers and pictures in the last month. And, they all need to be scanned, restored, sorted, etc. Want a new blog design and playing around with that. Developing a new journal project . . . I should say my first journal project. And actually dusted off the markers, scissors, pastels, and glue sticks to get back into some hand cut work. This is a rough draft for an ATC I promised someone months ago . . . nothing epic.

My Alter Ego . . .


copyright by Marsha Jorgensen 1/20/2011. All rights reserved.
Digital collage. Images are all my own placed on combined textures from myself and flypaper.


Interesting . . .
I first found out about this crazy street art documentary on ZebraMule's flickr (here). So we watched the movie tonight. The picture below is linked to the documentary website if you'd like a sneak peek or to read more about it.

I must admit, I'm fascinated with street art though I really haven't decided how I feel about it. It's a slippery slope, but so intriguing. And that's not really what the movie is about. The movie took me in a whole different direction than I expected.. Once again "What is Art?" is the question you'll find yourself struggling to answer . . . just not in the way you're probably expecting. A real twist in the nonfiction plot changes everything! (we watched it through Netflix)



And . . .
If you haven't looked through ZebraMule's photostream, you need to! I think Corrine is my new artist idol. I cannot get enough of her work. If you can't either, her website is here.

More on Banksy, my favorite artist from the documentary, can be found here.

I'm so lucky . . .
I won a beautiful print from Verna's Bird Bee and Bloom blog giveaway last month. Oh, it's gorgeous! I'm so proud to own it. Thank you, Verna! Here's a linked picture to the artist that made it, Danita . . .



I had some allowance left over (not really but don't tell hubby) so I indulged in another doll from Sandy Mastroni . . . (picture linked to her store)




This week's self observations . . .

• I use the word "so" entirely too much. I'm as bad about that as my daughter is about using "like".
• I still have way too many moments of insecurity and self defeating thoughts. Sometimes it comes out in my interaction with other people, I get paranoid in a way. (are you saying "Sometimes? How 'bout all the time?") I need a new trick to shoo those thoughts away.
• I feel better when my nails are painted.
  

It is always something with me, isn't it?

My Typical Whining Part
I am such a broken record, saying the same thing over and over . . . I am so unbelievably behind! It has been a long week and had very little to do with art. My daughter needed lots of doctor visits and x-rays and all kinds of stuff due to a hip injury from a soccer game. She has one more orthopedist appointment in the morning and then we're probably starting physical therapy. On top of that (and the all insurance calls, etc.) she and my 19 year old son are both sick with the coughing flu I had over Christmas and let me tell you . . . what wankers as my husband would say! So pitiful the two of them! Then, the last of the college apps and FAFSA apps all needed my assistance. And husband was out of town and I had not a minute to do what I thought I was going to do any day this week.

On the Flip Side
I did manage to get some new sheets done while waiting most of the week on hold at insurance and doctor's office calls! But that's pretty much all I got done. In honor of the movie about to be released, thought I'd I try some Gnome-ish type sheets . . .

Flower Land Gnomes



Gnomes Sweet Gnomes



One World One Heart
Well, I was going to participate in the last One World One Heart event I had mentioned in another earlier post. But, given my inability to keep up with life, let alone blog visits lately, I am thinking maybe I should not take it on. If you have not participated in this event or want to increase your blog traffic, I highly recommend you click on the link and check things out. It is a wonderful event to be a part of and took me to so many of my current favorite blogs and some very special friends.

(the picture is linked to the site)



Lastly
I just want to thank you all again for your lovely visits and especially for the birthday wishes. It means to the world to me and you all make life better all the way around. Have a great weekend!

Bad news, Good news

Bad news: This little house is mine and I'm not sharing it. I just got it in the mail yesterday, a little present to myself. I had my eye on these little house charms for quite awhile and not sure why I didn't order some sooner. I'm obsessed with them! If I were Oprah and had a show and a zillion gabillion dollars to buy my audience "My Favorite Things", this would be one of them and I'd buy one for everybody . . .



Good news: The little house below is one of the prizes from my birthday Make Me Laugh drawing! Keep reading below the picture.



This charming house came from Angie of Junk Garden blog and Etsy. Junk Garden blog is one of my all time favorite blogs to visit. I just love Angie's style and taste and talent beyond what I can describe! She finds, shares, and creates just the coolest stuff around. If she could dress me, decorate my house, design my blog, and call me everyday with one of her creative moments of genius, I would have the world on a string! You must visit both her blog and Etsy. She is one of the most humble bloggers I have ever come across, rarely touting her own fine fun work. So you must visit both. The pix above are linked to her Etsy and her blog can be found here. More from Angie later in the post . . .

Make Me Laugh Drawing & Prizes . . .

Who made me laugh the hardest . . . Boot~C of Mama's Got to Doodle blog. I loved her joke about the bar, the man, the jar, and the horse! I've retold it about a dozen times now. And she wins: the house pendant shown above, my newest print "Rain, rain" (shown in the post below this one) and 5 collage sheets from my Etsy shop!



Taking Boot~C out for the random drawing, I numbered the comments with jokes in order as they appear from 1 to 9 and used the random number generator to choose a number for me. Despite her prediction and the odds, #1 was chosen!



Random winner drawn . . . AZviaTX aka Tina of Red Opal blog!
And she wins: Two rolls of Tim Holtz's new tissue tape (which I bought from here), my newest print "Rain, rain" and 5 collage sheets from my Etsy shop!



Winners, if you'll email me with your addresses, I'll get your prints and prizes mailed. You can do a little shopping in my collage sheets here and then let me know which 5 sheets you'd like.

Thank you all so much for playing along. I loved the jokes! I've been retelling them all this last week. An itty bitty LOVE prize for everyone . . .
You can use the heart below in your own personal artwork. Please do not redistribute in any way. It is created from an old hand painted background I made a couple of years ago.



In other news . . .

Here is the other birthday present I chose for myself . . . an exquisite doll from artist Sandy Mastroni. I absolutely adore her! I want to collect as many of her dolls as I can. Family has been given proper notice that should they ever be looking for something to give me, this is what I want, dolls from Sandy. I've never been a huge doll person, but the faces Sandy creates gives these little creatures a life all their own - very magical and spellbinding. I have a hard time not staring at great length into the face of mine sitting here on my desk. She seems so wise and that if I look long enough I shall find all the answers in her gaze. The picture is linked to Sandy's Etsy and her blog can be found here. These dolls are on "My Favorite Things" list too . . .



Collage Sheets . . .
I have taken a mini break from creating collage sheets. Have lots of new stuff to scan and new sheets being planned in my head. New items coming soon!

Awards . . .
It has been a long while since I've got a blog award and got two in one week! Just by chance I received the award below from both Angie at Junk Garden blog and Patrice at The Old Back Porch blog. Thank you ladies! You're so kind!



The Rules of the Award are as follows:
- Thank and link back to the person that gives you the award
- Share 7 things about yourself
- Pay it forward to 15 recently discovered blogs*
- Email the recipients to let them know they won

Seven Little Things you might not know about Moi . . .

1. Black is my most favorite color.
2. I drink Coke all the time . . . like all day everyday and hate coffee and water.
3. If I could dress and look just like anyone else it would be Ellen Degeneres.
4. I don't like to fall asleep without the TV on. So sad, but I hardly watch TV any other time.
   
5. Sorry old followers . . . for you newer readers, I have a true phobia of buttons. I avoid them at all costs. (making it harder to wear those cute oxford shirts Ellen wears)
   
6. My husband has worked in the movie industry for over 30 years so I've got to meet lots and lots of famous folks . . . even been to some of their homes, shared meals with them, and chatted at parties and on the set. Remember the old Six Degrees from Kevin Bacon game? I can make you 2nd in a link list that doesn't require you to be in a movie yourself though I did appear (as an extra in the courtroom) in the not so successful movie Disorganized Crime. It's a small world, huh?
   
7. What I wish I could do . . . make something besides collages, sing in tune, whistle that loud whistle that gets everyone's attention, and give back to the people in my life just a little of what they give me.

*Nominating other blogs . . .
I love and so deeply appreciate the honor of someone recognizing me with an award, I truly do. But, honestly, I hate, hate, hate having to choose just a few to pass it on to. I hate that I might be excluding others. Maybe because I was often one of the last picked for the kickball team at recess. So, I'm going to be a rebel for the time being and point you in the direction of my sidebar over there on the right. It is a long list of my most favorite blogs to visit and it's still missing some I need to get organized and add. Maybe I'll get the guts to pass this award on more specifically soon, after a little more thought on the matter.

Make Me Laugh Contest and Miscellany . . .

Happy 3 day weekend! It seems like I just got everyone to go back to work and school! Now they're here again.

Rain, rain


copyright by Marsha Jorgensen 1/14/11. All rights reserved.
Digital collage. Image credits: flowers are from Holliewood Studios at Deviantscrap.com and used with a commercial license; rain is from Nicole Young at Digitalscrapbookplace.com and used with a commercial license; the face is highly altered from a flickr member no longer on flickr (verygoodwithcomputers); background is made from layers from itkupilli.etsy.com and asunderephemera.etsy.com; body, wings, and hat are mine from tumblefishstudio.etsy.com.

The Journal Internal


copyright by Marsha Jorgensen 1/14/11. All rights reserved.
Digital journal page. Image credits: everything but the door and black and white border from my own stash of images, most at tumblefishstudio.etsy.com; door from Lorie Davison at Scrapbookgraphics.com; black and white border from Crowabout Studio B at Deviantscrap.com.

I had a good week. Barely put a dent in all the flickr and blog visiting I wanted to do, but visited quite a bit. There is so much inspiration to be had and I learned about so many cool things on other blogs. So, it seems a fitting place to mention . . .



One World One Heart! The wonderful make-the-world-smaller event of Lisa Swifka, the Whimsical Bohemian! I was not able to participate last year because I was in Missouri taking care of my dad (can you believe it's almost been a year?), but I did get to join the fun in 2009 and met so many beautiful inspiring people. It was an incredible experience. Anyone can play along! Just click on the picture above to find out more.

Contest - Make Me Laugh! (1/19 - contest entries now closed, prizes and winners published later tonight!)

I was supposed to have a prize drawing contest back in December, but then I got so sick I was in bed for most of 2 weeks. I'm not too humble to tell you my birthday is next week. It will be my first without either parent. Since my birthday is next week and last year my birthday was very very sad (cuz my dad was so sick with cancer), I thought I would turn things around and have a little contest to see who can make me laugh the most on my birthday this year! Here's the contest . . .

Leave your best joke in the comments of this post and you'll be entered to win the drawing. There will be one randomly drawn winner and one winner that tells me a joke I like the most. You must leave a joke to be entered into either drawing! Prizes will be posted soon but some collage sheets, a print, and some little fun stuff will be included! The winners will be announced the day after my birthday, Wednesday, January 19th!

A real Monday . . .

Finally, Christmas break is over! Everyone is back at school and work for the first time in 3 weeks and I celebrated the quiet house with a quickie digital piece this morning.

Life


copyright by Marsha Jorgensen 1/10/2011. All rights reserved.
Digital collage. Image credits: face and body altered and colored from the graphicsfairy.blogspot.com; photo frame from christina renee retired kits and used with a commercial license; sky made from combined images from distressed textures at www.wix.com/distressedjewell/distressed-textures; grass, wings, sign, and halo from my own images at tumblefishstudio.etsy.com.

I am anxious to truly get back to work and routine this week. Soccer games, errands, cleaning, appointments, real life stuff, normal stuff to do again. Hope you all have a great week!

Just a little wishful thinking . . .

Thank you so much for your lovely comments. You all mean so much to me and your support just gets me giddy.

Just playing a bit this morning and finishing up something that's been cookin' a few days . . . won't get much real "work" done or visiting done until my family clears out next week. I can't focus with so many things going on around me. Looking forward to getting lots done!

On that note, this is what I wish I had . . .
Secret Sanctum (click on picture for larger version in flickr)



copyright by Marsha Jorgensen 1/6/2011. All rights reserved.
Digital collage. 66 layers - Image credits: trees, bucket, flower on right, and spider web from retired sets of Christina Renee and used with a commercial license; key in hand, butterfly and bug on porch from jenu-designs.com and used with a commercial license; sparkles form Nicole Young at digitalscrapbookplace.com and used with a commercial license; sign frame and bird nest from Lorie Davison at Scrapbookgraphics.com and used with a commercial license; bird from lisasalteredart.etsy.com; some flowers at very top and sprig of grass near bucket from Holliewood Studios at Deviantscrap.com and used with a commercial license; porch, siding, door, fairy, hat, ticket, wings, background plants, and grass all from my images at tumblefishstudio.etsy.com

A Life Post

It is purely coincidence that I feel the need to make some life changes right after New Year's Day. I've never been one to contemplate resolutions since 99% of us that make them fail to stick to them 99% of the time.

But, paying better attention to things going on around me lately for some reason, I find myself reflecting and wondering how I could be better. A better mother, a better wife, a better friend, a better sister, a better woman, a better artist, a better business owner, a better citizen, a better version of myself . . . a better human.

First step, self assessment. I have gotten lazy.

• I have allowed myself to be a victim far too often this last year. I have forgotten how to be a warrior.
  
• I have allowed myself to wallow. I have forgotten to be joyous and grateful and optimistic.
  
• I have allowed myself to focus on roadblocks instead of seeing the potential past them.
  
• I have pinned hopes on tiny little wasted dreams and forgotten to hope for the big crazy adventure.
  
• I care too much what others think of me and have too often disregarded my own sense of self worth.
  
• I have forgotten that there's a difference between allowing myself to be sucked into the spiral of negativity and drama of others and being compassionately concerned but true to my own values and beliefs.

Second step, LET GO! I need to let go of EXCUSES, BLAME, worry, grief, regrets, grudges, negative people, negative situations, bad memories, fears, laziness, bad habits, and all the crap that clutters my environment and my mind. LET GO is my mantra for myself until I feel better, feel "ME".

I saw a therapist once that told me I can blame anyone I want for anything that happened in my past as recent as yesterday. It's pointless. It does nothing. Blame rarely makes things better. BLAME IS AN EXCUSE AND NOT A SOLUTION. I only have myself to blame for who I am today, my happiness and success as a human, and how I choose to live my life. Whatever it is that I think I need, whether it's love, respect, acceptance, money, friendship, acknowledgement, a job or a new pair of jeans or anything else, I need to find it, work for it, earn it, grow it, and create it myself. It is no one's responsibility but my own.

Third step, reteach myself to be me. There is a me down there somewhere, a little lost and off balance. I've been going in the wrong directions, focusing on the wrong things - maybe for a few years now. I've forgotten the me I used to be and want to be. I catch glimpses now and then. So, for me, the best way to chip away at all that has gotten in the way of "me" is to start with simple things:

• good sleep (but not TOO much sleep)
  
• exercise (especially walking my scaredy cat dog and training him at the same time I train me)
  
• getting out of the house and looking at the world around me
  
• alone time in my own space
  
• eating better (more fruits and veggies!)
  
• reading and researching
  
• little indulgences (like naps and playing games and mindless TV now and then)
  
• doing the chores that never get done (instead of waiting for someone else to do them)
  
• taking pictures (because things look different through the view finder)
  
• listening to music
• writing letters
  
• wearing make up now and then and remembering I used to be a girl
• finding clothes that fit
  
• kissing my husband and telling him all the lovely things I think about him everyday
  
• being harder on my kids (because people live up to expectations and not past them sometimes and I think I've gotten a little soft in what I expect)
• actually, along those lines, expecting more from everyone in my life including myself
• thinking positively and optimistically
  
• and a million other little things.
  

These are NOT resolutions. These are things I've been too lazy to do.

Happy New Year!

Change Coming


copyright by Marsha Jorgensen 1/1/11.
Digital collage. Image credits: Everything but the swirls and birds from my own images, many available at tumblefishstudio.etsy.com. Swirls and birds from Studio Lorie, designer Lorie Davison at scrapbookgraphics.com and used with a commercial license.

Change Coming . . . we all know it, the only thing constant in life is change. But, it's been a quiet and somber start to the New Year today. Stayed in my jammies all day, did laundry, worked a bit. Despite my execution of several superstitious rituals last night . . . I'm still sick after two weeks of some respiratory bug and my sister-in-law's dear mom passed away today. She always, always had such happy things to say every time I saw her - so loving. She will be missed and my heart aches for my sister-in-law. She so deserved a good run of good happy things and I feel so badly that her year is starting off so painfully.

Easing back in to the post holiday routine and back into work . . . new sheets in my Etsy. More coming soon! Have a great first week of the year!