Focus On Life: Make Art (3/52)

This week was a little bit easier. On some wonderful news, we were able to get us a minivan. It is not anything special. But it is ours. And we own it. I am not a very artistic person. My drawings are limited and I believe I design Jewelry better than drawing. I have sketched something to make maybe twice.

Below is a collage of some things made this week.

I have a few more that didn't make it into my collage. I may add them later. But for now I have a toddler that is awake and ready to get dressed.

Goodbye 2012!!

2012 has been a bittersweet year for myself and my family. We started the year off  with the birth of our son Timothy. He weighed in at 8 pounds and 2 ounces.

Timothy Brayden 1/6/2012

I  cannot believe that in a few days My little baby will be 1. We are planning a small party with family and close friends. If it is not to cold we will have it at a local park. Below is a photo of Mason kissing Baby Timothy.

This past year we also lost two of our beloved pets. I miss them so much, I am holding back the tears as I plow through the photos of these fur babies. First is our cat, Angel. My daughter received this cat when a girl knocked on our door and said her parents told her to get rid of the kitten, or they will kill her. I took the kitten. Mya named her Angel for her white fur reminded her a Angel wings. Mya was 5 at the time.

Angel laying in a box.

She was chased away by my in-laws dog. We could not find her in the woods, So I know she hid well and is smart enough to survive outside on her own. But we do miss her dearly.  Next my dog Bandit, he was  a horrible babysitter, but a wonderful friend. He was a loyal little guy.

Bandit, doing his best to beg for something.

Bandit would take any type of food you offered him, If he did not like it, he would hide it under his bed, or in the laundry basket. He loved Mason so much. Sadly Bandit was killed my the same dog that chased Angel away.

We are saving up to get Bandits son from my mom, He is a shaggy little guy that looks just like my Bandit. But it may be a while until we can pay for his shots and pet deposits.

I have been lucky enough to befriended many people this past year. Two that hold a special place in my heart is Lori Anderson and Patti Vanderbloemen. These two ladies have helped me out in many ways. I love them dearly. I was scared to death to ask Lori to do a bead swap with me. I see these women as Celebrities. She agrees and sent me some beautiful beads, I admit mine were not quite up to par. Patti has sent me beads, and books, and tools.

I actually have had many women gift me parts of their bead stash. I  threw out most of my old beads and cleaned out my plastic bead trays to hold these beautiful gifts. I still have a few empty trays. :)

I was also lucky enough to join the BSBP in 2012. Among other smaller and just as exciting bead swaps. I also signed for a  few "Pay It Forwards" I have about six more months to send mine out. :)
Below is what I received from those that I signed up for.

Another beautiful soul I have met this year is Marie-Noel Voyer-Cramp. She has battled a  personal illness. And is in recovery. I love Marie to pieces. She is a kind soul that will do all she can to make everyone else smile. Lorelei Eutro is another splendid soul. She is an amazing designer and full of life. Unfortunately I have not met any of these women in person. But maybe I can in the future. 

I have also been lucky in contests this year. The first one I won was from Feng Beads, A beautiful string of handmade fraggle and spacer beads. From Marla James and Melinda Orr, I won a bracelet, I won a pair of books from Katie Hacker, The E-book from Lori Anderson, entitled "Follow the Path". 


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Pay It Forward

I am sure you have seen the "Pay it Forward Handmade", all over the beady groups on Faceook. I joined three. So in order to make it fair I will send out 9 gifts. :) I love getting something in the mail other than monthy bills. And I am sure you will to!

 

 

 

I’ll send a surprise gift to the first nine people who comment on this blog post. The gift will be a handmade surprise by me and will be sent to you some time in the next 365 days (yep, mystery gift at a mystery time). I will also include some other small gifts, like candy.

Here’s what I need you need to do:

Leave me a comment and make sure you include your email address (if your profile doesn’t include it). I’ll email you for your snail mail address and ask a few questions (likes/dislikes, favourite colours, sizes, general stuff like that).

To complete signing up you MUST play along too. To do this you must blog a similar post and pledge to make a surprise gift for the first three people who comment on it.

That’s all there is! Do you want to join in sharing the LOVE of handmade? Just comment below and I’ll send a thoughtful handmade gift to the first nine  people who do.