Inside every one of us is a silent symphony. A place where our favourite things dance around in our hearts.

10x30" mixed media and acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas.

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I just thought I would show everyone how pretty wrapping eco-friendly can be! I went to Goodwill and bought an old atlas and some old posters and wrapped most of my presents that way! And of course I made my bows as well, and gift tags were made with old greeting cards! I`m so pleased with how they turned out! And the paper is so thick and beautiful! It can be reused AND recycled!!!

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Christmas is...the smell of cookies baking in the oven, sugar sprinkles, decorator's icing, and jujubes. No Christmas would be complete without all those components! Of course, the messy kitchen that follows is something I could do without, but it's worth it! I remember fondly being a child and decorating cookies and how it was the perfect way to usher in the holidays and distract from the eager anticipation of Santa's arrival!

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I really want Christmas to be as green as possible. The whole consumer thing bogs me down. Don't get me wrong...I get caught up in it myself, although I do try to make a lot of my gifts and etsy is a good friend of mine these days, but even the whole wrapping of gifts gets under my skin. I mean...you can't RECYCLE WRAPPING PAPER? That sucks. Did you know that we go through the equivalent of 50,000 trees JUST for wrapping paper at Christmas time alone each year? That's just so wrong. I'll be doing my best to use recyclable Christmas paper this year, and I found a great tutorial on making bows! You can make them out of any paper you want! I've made quite a few already! I've used magazines, old gift bags, and scrapbook paper that's been sitting untouched for the last year!

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It's that time of year again...you know the time when you have to make 30 fancy little cupcakes for all the kids in your son's grade two class? Well, I decided this year to make Frosty the Cupcake. I stole the idea from Family Fun with a few modifications. Instead of the thin mints, I used half of a mini Oreo, instead of the pretzel sticks, I used Pringle stix, and instead of the Junior Mint, I used dark chocolate mini Rolos. They were a HIT!! The kids had SO MUCH FUN eating them!

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Yay! She's finished....and she only took me 10 hours! lol It just took so long because I was formulating the pattern as I created! I took some things apart and redid things over and again, with the end result being this! Her name is Pip :) I'll pop it in the mail today and keep my fingers crossed that Annababy gets it in time for Christmas (although, it may take a miracle as it's going to South Carolina, y'all!) I'm pretty happy with her. She's unique in every way! My first ever knit doll that I've ever designed completely on my own!

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Well, instead of naming my car, I think I'll name my home. She shall be called Cottingley House because she seems to be giving life to a whole lot of little fairies! Boy do I love Fairies. They're magical, earthly, and ethereal...all at the same time. They're like really little hippies. Little earth-saving crusaders. Anyhow, this is another little fairy that I'm working on. She's for my friend Emily's little girl Annabelle. This little fae is a creation of mine. Every little stitch is completely planned and designed by me. I'm having a lot of fun with her! I sure hope Annababy likes her!

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Okay, so here's the deal. I thought it would be cute if I made a little fairy princess for Sisi's stocking. You know, something sweet, wholesome and handmade to pull out on Christmas morn? Well, those were my intentions, anyway. So I got to knitting. Slowly but surely, Mimi came to life. Things were lookin' up. She was quite cute! And then I decided to give her a face...and that's where it all went downhill. Mimi the fairy turned into Frog Face. So, needless to say, I couldn't give Sisi a Frog Face. She got a little knit toy early. She still likes Mimi...maybe it's out of pity, but she likes her...

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With a little bit of protesting on the fairy's part, I now unveil the PANTIES!! I do believe that she is done. She can now go on her modest, merry way, and into my daughter's arms. I may still adorn her with some earrings, but aside from that, she is complete! And instead of her given name Sally the Eco Fairy, I'm giving her an adopted name of Ginger the Wish Fairy! My daughter can whisper her secret wishes and dreams into Ginger's (BIG - ssh!! She's sensitive about them!) ears and Ginger can help to make them come true! Every little girl needs a wishing fairy, right?

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With Christmas carols playing in the background, and our sleeves rolled up, my youngest child, Sapphire, and I set to work on some more Christmas baking. My wish is to make memories to last a lifetime...

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I guess a baby laughed, because Sally the Eco Fairy (knitty 2007) has taken flight! The little lady has grown her wings! She isn't *quite* finished, though. The poor little girl's still missing her knickers...and I don't know if you know, but fairies can be quite modest. Once her ruffled panties are done, she's ready to be wrapped and placed lovingly under the tree! I still have to come up with a name, though...I can't possibly give her to my daughter without having carefully picked out a
name that suits her best! I'd love to hear your suggestions!

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This COULD be a record! Anyhow...Sally is pieced together! Yay!! Now, I still have to make the wings and the panties, but at least she's not dismembered, anymore!

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Or rather, she's never been put together! Poor girl's in pieces! But never fear, Sally the Eco Fairy (or my rendition thereof!) is ALMOST done!! Woo hoo! Now all Sally needs is her panties, some wings (still undecided on the yarn I want to use) to get stuffed, and then finally pieced together! Yay! I'm very pleased with little Sally thus far! She may get a new name, yet, but she's Sally for now.


And here's the original one from knitty.com 2007...I think I've gotten a little carried away! lol

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This is Sally. I found the pattern here at Knitty.com (coolest free patterns on the web!) http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEwinter07/PATTfairy.html I've had to make a few modifications, as I seemed to have confused the hair pattern, but I like how mine's turned out! And of course I had to make mine a redhead, because that's what my darling little girl Sisi is :) I'm in the process of making her dress, and the panties, and wings will follow! She will be wrapped with love and placed under the tree for Christmas morning!

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I am excited (and nervous) to present 'Elusive', a huge 4x5 ' commissioned painting of a merman that I've been working on for a while. I love to work with lots of texture and colour. I truly hope that the person who commissioned this work enjoys looking at it as much as I've enjoyed painting it!

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Well, it was a fun time, indeed! Good friends, family, and GOODIES! And let's not forget the Bailey's and hot chocolate and spiced rum and apple cider! Yum!

The is part of the spread!!! More people showed up later but I forgot to take pics! lol

And here's the thank you I made for those who came and shared the wealth!

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Michaels Photo Entry - Will E. Freeze

Posted using ShareThis

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I got the rest of my Christmas decorations up today! I cut some pine boughs down from our gigantic tree and got down to business! I wanted a really crisp, cool, glittery feel, and I think I accomplished what I set out to do! I realize that Christmas is still pretty far away, but in these parts, you have to get your outdoor decorations done early, or chances are you'll be doing it in some pretty Arctic conditions!!!

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So when my seven year old son, Caiden came up to me requesting I cut a door and a window into this cardboard box, I think he somehow knew that he would get more than he was asking for. So, downstairs I went to my fabric stash, and came up with curtains, shingles, and siding...well, the potential for it, anyway. We got out the glue gun and got busy! Sisi and Caiden played for hours with it. Sisi with her babies, and Caiden with his teeny tiny action figures. The two methods of play couldn't have been more different. Sisi nurtured, fed, and put her babies to bed in the home, while Caiden pretended it was a jail. Kudos to imagination! To paraphrase Hamilton Hock, from Maggie and the Ferocious Beast, "To you it may only be a cardboard box, but it's home to meeeeeee..."

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I needed more Christmas decorations...and not those cheap, personality-lacking, mass-produced jobbies you find at the stores. I wanted something WHOLESOME. Something that, years from now, when I unwrap the tissue paper after it's been in storage for 11 months, makes me smile and brings back memories of happy times. This brings me to the birth of Mr. Will E. Freeze. Born in my kitchen (cuz my studio is just too messy to work in now), Mr. Freeze is entirely one of a kind, made from newspaper, handmade paper pulp, and flour. No molds, no nothing. This bad boy truly is an original. I even knit the little guy a beautiful scarf in glorious 100% wool. I hope he'll be with us for long after I'm gone, so that when my children, and children's children unwrap him from an 11 month hibernation, they'll all feel the warmth and love that was poured into him. My little girl Sapphire already feels the warm fuzzies for Will E.

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Check it out...this cool chick at http://theunexperiencedmom.blogspot.com/2009/10/i-got-award-honestly.html gave me a blog award!

Thanks so much Tamara! This tells me that I must get my proverbial butt in gear and start posting again! I actually have been keeping very busy creatively as of late, so I do have stuff to post about! So let's see, I have a couple commissioned pieces on the go...a 4' x 3' mixed media painting being among them. This friend of mine wanted a giant 'merman', so after a few weeks of trying to get inspired, I got down to business! Here's the work in progress (and please mind the chaos that is my studio...creative minds are seldom organized!




Oh - and hey! Do you remember that igloo I started and NEVER finished last year? Well, we had a freak snow storm on October 9th of this year and GUESS WHAT? I made a freakin' igloo! And it even had a roof!

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I'm such a tactile person. I have to touch things to capture their essence. No article of clothing is safe on its rack...if it looks like it might be fun to run my fingers across, that's what I'm going to do. It's how I know whether to love or loath something. If it is soft and luxurious, then I'm in love. Conversely, if it feels like a pair of polyester pants that schoolmarms wore in the 70's, then my natural reaction is to shudder.

This brings me to my paintings. It's all about texture.

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Meet Serenity. She's the first of a series of 'Women and Words'...

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